Ebottale
by Kokomeeps
Summary: Six years have passed since the barrier was broken. Frisk is a young woman with many responsibilities as ambassador for monsters. A lot more than she bargained for. With rising suspicions and nothing but hostility in response to her efforts, what can she do to break through to humankind? How could she erase a hundred years of fear and suspicion? *My first fanfic ever. Be gentle*
1. Chapter 1

Exhale..

Her eyes darted back and forth between the clock above the classroom door and the board up at the front. The afternoon seemed to drag on for an unfair eternity. She had considered that after everything had happened, the time space mechanic had finally given in and began to crumble. Resting her head in her open palm, she took a slow breath in.

Your eyes began to flutter into a vacant daydream as the teacher moaned on. The clock seemed to be ticking fine, until it started losing momentum. You sighed outward and closed your eyes, reopening them in a fixed gaze on the clock. The red seconds hand has now stopped all together. Sitting up in concern, you peered over again.

.. backwards?

The seconds hand was going backwards, and picking up speed at that.

Your first thought is to call out for help, to your classmates, your teacher, your friends at home.. but nothing escapes your mouth.

You hear a faint ringing noise as your chair begins to tip backwards. You glance behind your shoulder, noticing the now gaping black hole sucking in life around you. _Oh my God._

Just as the darkness begins to seep into the corners of your vision, your head connects to something hard. Falling out of your chair and onto the ground, your routine gave a few classmates the giggles as they emptied the classroom. Your hand instinctively moves to the back of your head, rubbing the goose egg beginning to take form. The bell ceases it's ringing and the teacher shoots you a look.

"Frisk, is everything okay down there? Do you want me to get the nurse again?"

You stare at him blankly for a few seconds, grasping reality once more. "N-no, it's.. I'm all right.. just.. tired."

The professor fixes his vision on the windows, exhaling sharply. "Well, if you're not getting enough rest at home due to any.. instabilities.. please know that you can reach out anytime". He looks at you intensely.

' _Yeah, not 'falling' for that one, buddy.'_

You exhale quickly through your nose, containing yourself. "Everything is fine at home, but I thank you for your concern." The words fall out of your mouth without thought; You've said it so many times, all the compassion that was once behind the words are lost now. You quickly pack up your textbooks and loose papers, tossing them into your backpack unceremoniously and leave the room, not taking a second to look back.

It's been six years since the barrier was destroyed. The monsters slowly returned to the surface to a mixed reception from the humans. Who can blame them? The word 'monster' doesn't exactly do the species any favours.

You couldn't see anyone else bringing the role as much progress as you have, but in hindsight, you solemnly wished Asgore hadn't mentioned anything about being an ambassador. The role just brought so much work. Exhaustion. Frustration.

Ebott's laws had been changing and adapting over the years, to the monsters' dismay. Despite all of my efforts and discussions between the law enforcement, specifically the police captain, the restrictions have been only getting more and more severe. It started with simple requests with the identification cards that monsters had to carry on their person at all times. Now, the amendment going to vote would effectively start a curfew. Frisk has simply counted her blessings that it hadn't gotten to city segregation.. although she didn't know why she was holding her breath anymore.

Five missing persons since the barrier was broken. Roughly one person a year. Frisk had argued that it was extraordinarily prejudice to believe that it automatically had to be a monster, but the stigma was strong. Even though she had returned to the Underground each time investigating with Sans, they had found nothing. All of the monsters had been brought up to the service, anyways. It was more of an action to appease the captain, but it only seemed to further his suspicion somehow.

Buried in thought, she hadn't noticed the foot outstretched a hair past hers as she was walking out of the school and down the stairs. Before she could react, she fell forward, throwing her hands up to catch herself on the cement. She hissed inwards in pain, and shot a glance up. The captain's son, Andrew, shot you a smug grin as his two cronies doubled over in laughter, walking ahead of him. You looked up at him in frustration, and felt the colour drain from your face.

Blue..

There was a blue aura surrounding his body. Looking around frantically for him and not seeing him anywhere, you just shook your head violently. _NO, DON'T YOU DO IT_ you thought frantically, wide-eyed.

His friends stopped walking ahead of him, and looked back at Andrew just as the aura dissipated from his body. _Thank goodness._

"Y'know, Frisk, I just don't get you." You shifted your eyebrows confusedly. What's not to get? "Aren't you tired of giving a shit? I know my dad is. These.. things.. are just going to get pushed out of town. Again. What a waste of time."

You looked down to the ground, feeling futile. As much as you hated to agree with the idiot, he had a point.

You'd never let him know that, though. You pushed yourself up off the ground, wincing in pain slightly from the fresh scrapes on the palms of your hands. "Huh.. I guess.. I figured Ebott us some more time to keep the peace." You knew the short skeleton was watching, paying him homage. You walked past Andrew coldly. Reasoning, as you learned, didn't make any dent in this individual. Feeling the glares from the boys behind you, you walked around the corner of the fence and continued down the road.

You clenched your fists in pain. What the hell did he think he was doing? You were half-hoping he would use one of his shortcuts to appear in front of you and walk you home like he was planning on doing. You were sure he wouldn't, he knew he was in trouble. Sure, Andrew deserves a swift throw into a wall, you couldn't think of many humans who didn't. Maybe it'd wake them up. But that would only serve to undo all of the work and effort she's put in the last few years of maintaining the peace.

You picked up the pace, heading home to Tori's. Now you had even more work to get done tonight. Perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

The cold wind sliced across your face grimly as you huffed and puffed back home, trying to formulate your thoughts. As you rounded the corner of the street nearing Toriel's home, you stopped in your tracks, hearing a dark voice groan behind you.

"sup."

Exhaling deeply, you turn around and raise your eyes to meet his. His smile still filled you with excitement in the pit of your stomach, but you resolved to get your point across.

"Sans, what the hell were you thinking."

"hmm. you mean just now?"

"You know very wel-" 

"i was _scraping_ up the courage to come and get yelled at."

"That's not what I me-"

His smile widens as he reaches out for your hands, turning them around. Your eyes lower at your bloodied palms, marked up from catching yourself on the sidewalk. His eyes narrow as he gets a good look before you rip your hands away from his. You can barely contain your anger.

"What the fuck has gotten into you?!"

"language, kid."

"Sans. I am about to strangle you right now." You close your fists together, ignoring the sharp pain. Sans sighs and looks past you. "Are you joking me? After all this work we've been putting in together, you would throw that away over some dumb idiot with a superiority complex? Think about it. Think about all of the monsters, all of our friends and family before you ever pull something like that again." Your words escaped your mouth like ice.

Sans eyes met you in understanding and frustration all at once. You felt bad for scolding him. "look, frisk, im sorry. well, not re-.. i just.." He wants to continue, but turns around from you sharply and gives a quick response. "we'll talk about it later, ok?" You watch him disappear before your eyes. Quizzically, you look behind yourself to see what was the matter. You watched a few neighbours' window blinds flap actively. So that was it.

He better believe he's not getting out of this one. You turn on your heel and walk home.

It was about.. I'm not even sure, a year ago? I'm pretty sure it's been close to a year. Everyone else had seen it coming besides yourself, of course. I guess you looked past that aspect of the relationship. You had been friends for years. He helped you through the rough times, and you helped him through his. Nobody questioned your closeness, besides the random outburst from Papyrus. You can remember the one poignant memory pretty clearly.

"HUMAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER SO LATE AGAIN?"

His voice boomed throughout the entire house. It was early.. too early. One o'clock in the morning. Papyrus had his sleeping cap on, and for once, didn't look entirely amused. As soon as he saw your puffy face, however, his face was taken with concern.

"OH, NO! FRISK! WHAT'S THE MATTER! DON'T TELL ME ANOTHER JUNIOR JUMBLE HAS PERPLEXED YOU INTO MADNESS!"

You remember vaguely telling him a made-up harrowing tale of a particularly daunting puzzle, Sans muffling his laughter behind you all the while. It was hard to make out the bits and pieces of it right now. Your head was swimming. It was becoming too much again. The power struggle happening inside of you was almost too much to bear.

"H-h-hey.. Pap-.. papyrus.." you manage to exhale between short breaths, eyes fixated on the ground. You hear footsteps behind the open door as you raise your hand to your head in a feeble attempt to make the pounding stop.

"hey, pap. girl scouts at this hour? you and your pappermin-" he cuts himself off as he looks through the door frame.

"SANS, YOU INCONVENIENT LAZY BONES. I TOLD YOU, THOSE GIRL SCOUTS WERE RAISING MONEY FOR A TRIP. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR DELICIOUS DELICACIES…" You could hear Papyrus defending himself, and you raised your head with difficulty and squinted open your eyes to meet the brother past him.

He knew right away. Of course he did.

"hey, pap. don't worry about it. why don't you head back to bed, i'll help the kid back to mint condition."

Papyrus hastily turned around and looked at you once again. "OH, ERM.. HUMAN, I APOLOGIZE. I GOT A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY THERE. SANS IS HERE TO HELP YOU, SO.." His eyes sadden with concern for you and a bit of guilt. He turned in spot and whispered something down to Sans as he walked past him, heading towards you with his hands in his pockets. You could hear Papyrus climb the stairs with a "GOOD NIGHT, FRISK!" and a hasty door slam.

"heya, frisk. whats the ha-" You can hear his grin tighten as he stops in front of you. Were you shaking? I mean, were you still shaking.. you woke up with a tremble similar to exiting the Ruins for the first time, but you didn't feel like you were aware of your body at the moment. You heard a few cracks through fabric. Sans was clenching his fists together, causing his bones to pop quite loudly.

"uh.." He paused in thought before sighing a curse word. You hadn't heard him slip up before with you. Your face would be overcome with surprise if you had any say in the matter. But.. you stayed in spot. Eyes on the ground. Head in your hand. Sans extended his hand to you and there was about a second of.. nothingness. Suddenly, the ground changed underneath you. It was no longer the patio outside of the front door but a dark floor. He grabbed your arm and dragged you a few steps carefully, and lowered you down on something. You heard a few springs croak in response to your weight.

A.. bed?

"i figured no one would ever see my room, uh.." He shifts awkwardly above you, then lowers himself to your side. "so.. sorry about the mess."

"speaking of a mess."

Your eyes begin to water in frustration. The voice began to get louder, drowning out your friend in the process. Something about his room? You weren't sure.

 **It's only a matter of time. This time will to come to an end. Why resist? What is the point, you stupid girl?**

Your other hand raised to your head instinctively, not daring to speak. Sans stops and his grin falters. "jeez.. frisk, can you even hear me right now?" You felt yourself tense up in response. He let out a low, worried sigh, and threw his arm around you.

"c'mere, kid."

You couldn't move. You were paralyzed with fear. You felt something wrap around your neck.. was it him? Was it Chara? Was he winning?! No, you couldn't let this happen.. not again.. never again..

You slapped the arm away from you and looked at him wildly, ready to defend yourself from being taken over.

".. frisk.. hey, it's me. it's sans. can't you.."

His words stopped and your vision began to darken. You could hear someone shouting at you, but it sounded like it was behind a wall.

 **Kill him.**

Before you could register a thought in the darkness, you felt a warmth wrap around you, and.. something..? As the darkness began to leave your vision, you blinked a few times to wrap your head around your surroundings for the first time. You were in a room.. wow, if you could call it th-

You realize slowly that Sans has his arms wrapped around your waist, enveloping you in a kiss.

Was it a kiss? You weren't sure. I mean, biologically speaking, probably not, but then again, there was a tingling sensation being spread across your lips. Almost like he was using his.. magic? But you couldn't see it. Also, this felt far different than being tossed acr-

You decided to stop thinking and close your eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

The memory had taken you for such a journey, you only came back to reality as you walked into your home. You took in a breath, smelling the remaining aroma from last night's cinnamon pie and wrapping itself around you warmly. You could faintly hear the sounds of dishes clanking together and a low voice humming. Mom must not be back from the elementary school yet.

It was a slow road, but eventually Tori had forgiven her Gorey and eloped to the joy of all monsters everywhere. You can recall their vow renewal ceremony quite clearly although being only a few short years ago. You were happy to participate in the union, sitting beside the bone brothers after nervously spreading flower petals down the center of the aisles.

"way to put the petal to the medal, kiddo."

You stifled a giggle and threw your finger up to Papyrus's mouth before he exploded with annoyance.

Undyne and Alphys sat to your left, and you were surprised to see Undyne tearing up. She must have felt your gaze upon her, as she quickly sat up straight in her chair and rubbed her hand over her eyes. Alphys blushed deeply and looked the other way. You see that it was taking everything she had to not explode with emotion. She had confided in you several times in the past about taking their relationship to the next level, but it seemed like no amount of encouragement or roleplaying could move her into action. It was something that she had to do herself.

You shook your head and returned back to reality as you finally heard Asgore yell from the kitchen a bit clearer. "Frisk, is that you?"

"Hey, dad, yeah I'm home!"

He entered the hallway and gave you a quick hug, beaming. "Hello there, Frisk. How was your.. erm.. morning?" You could tell he was on pins and needles, waiting anxiously for the results of your meeting this morning with the captain.

"Well.. I think it went as well as it could have. They seem to be stuck at the same spot, no matter how many different ways I try to explain it to them." You sighed lowly, letting the realities of the day finally sink into you. With your thoughts and school, you realize that you haven't had any time to decompress the events of this morning.

"I'm not sure what his next move is. They seem to be pressured to act on this whole segregation movement. It's not a majority of the population, but the minority seems to be making a lot of noise."

Asgore looks down to the ground in thought. "Oh.. that's a shame. But.." he breaks from his mood and beams up at you. "You must stay determined, Frisk! You've made amazing things happen for this city, it's population and monsters. I have faith in the humans and that they will come around with your guidance."

You smiled up at him. "Thanks, Dad." You really were trying your all. After quickly excusing yourself, you walked to the bathroom in a quick stride, hoping that he really didn't notice your hands. You washed them under the sink with a few winces of pain, and patted them dry. You took a look in the mirror. For the most part, the stresses of daily life seemed to age you, but you had enough self-awareness to know that you were just internally criticizing yourself. That's what young women are supposed to do, right? Your long brown hair reached the top of your bust with your old bowl-cut bangs now long grown and parted off to the left side. Since you were meeting with the captain this morning, you had ditched your t-shirt and jeans routine and adopted a simple, white blouse with a purple skirt. You tucked your bangs behind your ear, gave yourself a determined smile and headed to your room.

You were about two hours into your homework and strategy making as ambassador when you heard the front door open. Being buried in your studies, you kind of forgot about it until you heard a few quick taps on your door.

"Frisk, sweetheart, I'm home! How was your day today?"

Your eyes rose to Toriel's inviting smile. "Hey, mom! It was good, busy. Just trying to get most of my work done before I take off.

Her eyes narrow curiously. "Oh, I didn't realise you had plans for tonight. What are you planning on doing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry mom, I thought dad let you know. I'm just heading over to the Pap's and Sans' for a hangout. Papyrus announced that I was working myself too hard.. you can guess what Sans replied with, then an ar-"

"What happened to your hands, honey?"

You now realize that her eyes had met the desk, and saw the remains of the scrapes left earlier. "Oh, that.. Just some stupid kids at school-"

"The captain's son again, correct?"

You nodded solemnly. Tori gives a worried pout and looks up to the ceiling, as if trying to see into her head for the right answer. "How many times are we going to have to go through this. Don't you think it would be best if I talked to his father myself, my child?"

"Again, the captain's son."

"Yes, but-"

"Trust me, mom, it's not going to help much. I'm doing the best that I can trying to talk some sense into the father right now, and once I make a breakthrough on his general acceptance of monsters, then absolutely you can talk to him. That kid's behaviour is obnoxious."

"So, you're okay then, young one?"

"Of course, mom." You smiled warmly to her, and she gave a slow and uncomfortable grin back to you. You knew that she was worried, but you also couldn't let her know that Sans was there and ready to dunk the kid. She would have a fit that would make your inevitable argument with him seem like child's play.

"How was your day, Mrs. Dreemurr?" you spoke, changing the subject. She looked at you with such joy, preparing her response. She really was built to be a teacher. "Oh, it was fantastic, Frisk! You remember me telling you about that small child who was still being pretty hostile with me? He finally opened up to me today! He talked to me about his parents and their teachings of monsters, it all sounded pretty terrible. But then he wrapped up his story with a "but you don't sound like any of those things, Mrs. Dreemurr". He was a delight to teach for the rest of the day." 

"That's.. that's fantastic, mom. Wow. I can't wait to get you into the meetings to tell some of your stories."

She beamed in pride, and looked like she was about to well up like a faucet. "Erm, e-excuse me, my child." She walked quickly out of sight, and you lowered your head in a smile. They had to come around, they just had to. How could you not want to live with people like Tori around?

After a lovely dinner (Asgore decided to cook tonight to Tori's delight), you packed up some of your homework to do at the brothers' house and headed out. "Be careful out there, Frisk! And please let me know if you're coming home any later than 11!" Toriel gave you a quick wave, holding Asgore's hand on top of the dining room table.

It had chilled down considerably in temperature, you had noticed of course after you were a few blocks away from the house already and far too late to contemplate throwing on a sweater or scarf. The winds were starting to pick up.

 _Hmm.. wonder if there's a storm rolling in_ you thought to yourself. You rounded the corner of the road and saw a few girls in the distance that you recognized from school. You gave them a quick wave and shot them a smile. It looked as if the girls exchanged quick words between each other before you passed each other. That's all right, though. You had resolved in the matter relating to everyone liking you at school. Besides, the school was an all-human private school, it was practically where stereotypical children behaving like their parents were bred. You couldn't blame them. They grew up with only one message about monsters, and that they were.. well.. _monsters._

You arrived at the brothers house a few minutes later, your cheeks noticeably red and shivering slightly. You knocked on the door in your usual rhythmic pattern. Papyrus opens the door with a beaming smile.

"WELL, HELLO THERE, FRISK! IT IS I, YOUR GREATEST FRIEND, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HERE TO "HANG OUT"!"

"pretty sure she's here chillin', bro."

Here we go.


	4. Chapter 4

To be honest, you had a pretty fun evening. Papyrus had graced you with another plate of his signature dish for dinner (Sans remarking how impastable the scenario was to its' normal chorus of groans) and the three of you had watched some television on the couch while conversing. It was a nice break for you to get out of the same busy routine and to catch your breath. Something had to give, right?

Apparently, Papyrus. He stood up suddenly and stretched out his bones in an over-exaggerated manner. "WELL, FRISK, IT HAS BEEN A SPLENDID NIGHT ONCE AGAIN. WE WILL HAVE TO MEET AGAIN VERY SOON, BUT I AM AFRAID IT HAS REACHED MY BEDTIME." He shot over a look at his brother expectantly. "SANS.. YOU ERM.. GOING TO FOLLOW ME?"

His grin widened. "whats up, bro? need something?"

"WELL, UH.." You stifled a giggle. Papyrus had been trying a bit harder lately to maintain his GREAT status in the.. well.. community. The community being his friends and family. It probably had something to do with seeing how you had grown and gained immense responsibilities, as Sans informed you before. He had even avoided teasing, which was a pretty amazing feat. After they both disappeared up the staircase, you found yourself opening your bookcase and opening your computer up. You had spent the next twenty minutes typing up some speaking points at your next scheduled meeting with the captain.

"what'cha workin' on?"

You could barely hear him materialize behind you, causing your signature move around him; the shockwave jump in your seat. "Damnit, Sans, there's ten freaking steps in the staircase. You're telling me you can't be bothered to move down any of them?"

"nah. thought i'd step up my game."

"Could you stop that."

"nah."

A huff of air escapes you as you tilt your head up from the chair, looking at him upside-down. He stands there, a smile across his face as always.

"so.. what are you working on?"

Your eyes avert back to your laptop, sighing. "Just working on a few more angles to try and talk some sense into the captain and administration at the next meeting. It's in two days; it's not a lot of time, but hopefully I can come up with a better way to word it by then."

"want some help?"

"Why would I want help from someone who obviously doesn't care about the monsters' standing in the eyes of these people?"

"hm.. thought you forgot."

You stood up from your chair and continued to talk to him while folding up your laptop, placing it back into your backpack. "Sans, I thought out of all of the monsters, the last person that would sabotage my work would be you." Your eyes meet his, and they instinctively lower to the ground in.. shame? "You're the one who's watching me get all of this work done. Please, find some restraint." You could hear his teeth grinding against each other as he raised his head, meeting your gaze.

"he tripped you."

"So what? Don't let it get under your skin."

You felt like if he wasn't heating up at the moment, he would have acknowledged that. "so, frisk. you're asking me to ignore my girlfriend being pushed around by some twat," he shifted his weight onto his other foot, glaring down on you hard "so that you don't lose standing with his piece of shit dad."

"That piece of shit dad who is responsible for the livelihood of your entire species." You pointed your index and prodded his sweater once, reiterating your point. Judging by his balled up fists cracking at his sides, he was getting more and more annoyed. This approach wouldn't do at all. You really did feel badly for Sans. It was a shitty situation for anyone to be put in, and you understood that. You reached out your hand and wrapped it around one of his tightly wound hands. "Sans, I know it's difficult. But I need you to keep control for me. Trust me, I can handle myself. Besides, I'd much rather take a few stupid scratches than see a full-scale war break out. I know you do too."

He stiffened to the idea, and then relaxed again, looking at your hand and then him. "yeah. i know, kiddo. just sucks." His body rose, lowering his eyes in thought. "won't happen again."

"Thank you, Sans." You let go of his hand and instead wrapped your arms around his neck. He knew what you were after. Before your lips could reach his mouth, a light blue glow emanated around it and met your lips with a spark. It was warm and exhilarating all at once. Once you parted, you smiled warmly up to him, and he met you with a similar look of calm.

You glanced up at the clock. Of course. "Shit, Sans, it's almost eleven, I've really got to get going. Tori's going to have my head if I'm late again."

"so you were planning on making up, making out and making off."

"Those were my three goals, yes. I'm sorry, I'd love to joke more with you, but I've really got to—"

Just as you were turning to head out the door, you felt him reach out for your hand.

"no nightmares, right?"

You took in a breath proudly. "Nope, not for a long time, Sans."

You could feel his grin behind you. "good girl." He tugged on your arm aggressively, spinning you around his and tucking you underneath his shoulder. You looked at him surprised as he pecked your cheek affectionately. Then immediately after, unceremoniously spinning you back outwards and through the front door. You caught yourself just in time to watch him snicker to himself quietly. "sorry, just wanted to spin up more attention before you left."

You bark at him as you walk down the stairs towards the sidewalk. "Pretty sure you're just obsessed with becoming a spin-doctor."

"That's a pretty spinteresting take, kid."

You affectionately throw your middle finger up into the air backwards as you are rewarded with his chuckling shortly after as well as a door closing. You're sure that he would have offered you a walk home if you hadn't been avoiding the whole 'everyone knows the ambassador is dating a monster' story. Even when you were out among monsters and your family, you kept it under wraps. Nobody could know, because someone would use it as a weapon sooner or later. Whether it was against monsters, or yourself. Besides, it only takes about fifteen minutes to get back to your house.

Well, not tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

You were about halfway home when you realised you weren't alone. You started hearing the sounds of footsteps trailing you, but when you looked back, nothing. You could hear distant whispers although not seeing anyone. You decided to cut through the park to flush anyone out who might have been following you. The next time you glanced behind your back, you noticed a shadowy figures in the distance behind you. You stopped walking and turned around to face them, figuring you knew who it was.

"Andrew? Is that you? If you've come to apologize about this afternoon, you don't ha—" you stopped mid-sentence as you saw two more shadows appear behind him. Some of his friends from earlier. That's probably good.

"Oh, hey guys. What're you doing out so late?"

Andrew walked ahead of the other boys, meeting your gaze. He had about a foot more in height on you, but other than that, he was a pretty normal kid. With ashy-brown hair like his fathers and his hazel eyes trained on you.

"Well, Frisk, y'see my dad doesn't really care about curfews. In fact, he doesn't really care about anything anymore besides this whole monster debate."

You looked at him sadly. "Oh, well Andrew, that's really too bad. Have you talked to him about it?"

"How the hell am I supposed to talk to someone that ISN'T THERE?" he raised his voice, sending his two friends back a few steps nervously. You, however, stood your ground. Andrew was a misunderstood kid who was just upset that his father wasn't paying any attention to him. You were initially intimidated by the three bodies, but now you saw an opening.

"Hmm.. You're right. That makes it hard to talk to him about how you're feeling. But maybe if y—"

Andrew interjects, booming over you. "I know what has to happen. You have to stop taking up all of his time. This town's time. The people's time. NOBODY ELSE wants them here, you know that? It was perfect the way it was before. We had our place, and they had their place. No lines were crossed. But now you're asking us to bend over and just allow them to take over our town?"

"Not 'take over', per-se, just co-exi—"

"What a fool you are." You instinctively squeezed your fists together. "Monsters don't belong up here, and neither do you. Besides, how many more people need to disappear before you realize not all monsters are warm, fuzzy angels, Frisk?"

"You know that your dad's still investigating that, right? All the monsters are up here, and we checked every single house, even though it was breaking their rights. Even though there's a million fences around Mt. Ebott, I checked down there myself and didn't find anything. Not every problem can be pegged on monsters, Andrew, and that includes your daddy issues."

You raise your hands to your mouth in shock. That last bit was only supposed to be thought, not heard!

Andrew spits to his side and looks up to you in anger. It sends a chill down your spine.

"So I guess you're not changing your mind, huh?"

You take a deep breath. "No, Andrew."

He takes a step forward from the two men accompanying him. "Don't jump in, guys. I should do this myself."

"Andrew, we don't ha—"

He begins walking up to you, and then breaks out into a run. You're not sure what to do, but you do what you know best; dodge. As soon as he reaches you, he clumsily swings his fist forward to meet your face, but you duck down to the ground, avoiding him. He sends his left arm now lower to try and connect with your lowered head. You bend your back, watching his fist swing just above your face, narrowly missing you. As he picks himself up from his crouch, you scatter away across the grass and pick yourself up as well.

He comes at you again and reaches out to grab your arm, but you retract it quickly. He then swings his left arm in another similar attempt, but you roll to the other side. You look down just as he tries to slide his foot underneath yours and you instinctively jump into the air. He exhales in frustration.

"COULD YOU JUST STOP!"

"Sorry, didn't learn about blue attacks."

You thought you heard something crack in the trees above you, and it took your attention away for the fraction of time Andrew needed to connect with your face. You spun and hit the ground, unable to catch yourself. Andrew dropped to the ground from above you, putting his knees into your stomach forcefully. You would have yelled in pain if he didn't take the air out of your lungs.

"All right, guys, come on over, I need your help now." Andrew barked at his buddies, watching the events unfold. They both took steps back in hesitance. You could hear them talking to themselves, although what they were talking about you were unsure of. Everything seemed a bit hazy after that hit. They must have decided on bailing, because you heard Andrew above you freak out. "HEY, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS GOING?! NO.. STOP! WAIT!" He then returned his gaze to you, almost as if it was your fault.

"Well, I was going to have my buddies help me, but whatever – I don't need their help anymore." He matched your glare in spades. "I'm gunna need you to promise me that you'll resign from being ambassador tomorrow. You're not going to like what happens next if you don't listen to me now."

You considered your options. You got pretty good at taking a shot from monsters, so what's the worst damage that this guy can deal? If it was that punch, then she had nothing to worry about. Sure, it stung, but she's had far worse.

"I-I'm not r-resigning, Andrew."

He shifted his eyebrow in surprise, looking at you quizzically. "Really. After all of that, you're still going to side with the monsters?"

"Mhm."

He sighed once in defeat and then replacing it with a curved smile appearing on his lips. It made you uncomfortable. "Y'know, I've got all the time in the world to convince you otherwise." He grabbed your collar bone and put some pressure down to prevent you from sitting up. "Actually, before you became ambassador, I kind of had a crush on you. You're a pretty hot chick.. well I mean you'd be hotter if you weren't involved with those freaks, but whatever." You heard a zipping noise, followed by some fumbling around your jean button. "Still standing firm on that ambassador gig?"

 _Oh._

 _OH._

 _FUCK._

You started to struggle underneath his weight violently, but nothing happened. You opened your mouth to yell, and were met by his hand covering it. Before he could presumably scold you for trying to yell, you heard a "whooshing" sound, followed up by heavy steps in the grass beside your head. Andrew looked up at something and you could see all of the colour drain from his face.

"heya, pal. mind getting the fuck off my girlfriend?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Ping.**

Suddenly, the weight off of you disappeared. You had enough time to catch the frightened expression of Andrew as he launched off of your body through magical force. You sat up with an urgency, looking towards the direction the boy flew. A harsh noise left your mouth uncontrollably as you caught sight of him. Andrew was crumpled over the ground beside the tree he collided with, as still as the night itself. You looked over your form quickly and gave a sigh of relief. He hadn't gotten anywhere with your pants, it must have just been his trousers unzipping. Still, what an absolute idiot you had been. You should've just ran away. This wouldn't have happened if you just beat cheeks out of there, and then Sans wouldn't have had to get involved..

 _Sans.._

He walked around the back of you, moving to your side as you sat. His left eye was emanating in a soft blue glow that you recognized instantly. It always gave you mixed feelings. For one, you knew the catastrophic power that he held back within that magic. In a fraction of a second, he could end someone's life without hesitation. On the other hand, it left you breathless and curious. He had demonstrated to you just what he could do with that magic during a particularly heavy kissing session. Ever since then, your mind couldn't make up how it felt about it.

You snapped back into attention and realized that he hadn't even given you a glance over. His focus was fixated towards the folded body in the distance. His footsteps heavy, he began walking in that direction. 

"Sans, _no.._ "

You could feel the tears beginning to well up in your eyes.

He didn't look back. Andrew hadn't moved a muscle since the impact. Was he even awake?

" _.. please. Sans. It's not worth it."_

He stopped and looked back at you coldly. It looked as if he wasn't the one in control for a split second, but your voice had brought him back to reality. The blue aura around his body dissipated, and he blinked a few times. Immediately, a look of concern washed over him.

".. frisk. ..d-damnit.. i'm sorry." He jogged over to you, his eyes not breaking contact with yours. You placed your hands behind your body and attempted to push yourself up. You wobbled a bit, only to have your arm grabbed by him and pulled up into a hug. "sorry. i'm sorry. are you okay." His voice shook.

Were you okay? You did an internal assessment. Andrew hadn't gotten anywhere, although his motive was made clear. Besides the side of your face stinging from his weak-ass punch, you didn't feel any other pain. Then you realised that you hadn't stopped shaking since you sat up.

"Sans. Thank you so much." You gripped his sweater and pushed your face into his chest. You were lucky that he decided to watch over you tonight. "I'm okay.. really. Nothing happened."

Sans let go of you and exhaled deeply. His eyes met yours, looking to see if you were telling him the truth. You looked up to him lovingly, feeling bad for shaking him up so much. Immediately, you corrected yourself in your head. _No, this was Andrew's faul-_

Looking past Sans' shoulder, you sighed. "He's gone."

He turned around on his heel sharply and stood in front of you. The body that littered the bottom of the tree had disappeared, leaving the grass pressed down where he once lay.

"i'm going after him."

Your eyes returned to the back of his head, startled. "What, no, Sans!"

"yup."

"Sans, what good will that do?"

"me."

".. What?"

"it'll do me some good, kid. come on. i don't ask for much."

".. Sans, please. I don't either, but that's going to do nothing. We can report it to the police tonight." You thought about how far a case against the captain's son would actually go, especially coming from the ambassador. You looked down the ground in defeat. There's no way they'd take your word. Even if it came from Sans as well. But.. if you had a few more witnesses.. "We can talk to his friends that saw it. Get them to tell the police what happened. Let's do this the diplomatic way."

You heard a loud groan. "you don't have a mean bone in your body, huh."

"I could after tonight." You practically heard the skeleton freeze on the spot, his breath becoming staggered. "Thank you, Sans, for helping me. I don't know what I would've done there without you." He turned around, the cyan-tinted blush across his face evident. After tonight's events, how could you have your mind in the gutter at a time like this? That trademark smile tightened across his skull.

"h-heheh. anytime, kid. but.. what are you saying? i'm compromised strictly of funny bones. you know that." His eyes narrowed to you. "but.. seriously.. are you ok?"

You looked down in thought and began to recap the situation to humour him. So all right.. you talked to him.. you did a pretty good job of dodging.. he did nail you, though.. then he sat on top of you.. he almost got your pants undone.. then Sans sai—

All of the colour immediately drained from your face. You looked at Sans as if you'd seen a ghost.

".. frisk.. are you okay?"

A noise attempted to escape your mouth, but it cracked under the pressure. _Oh god.. he knew.. and soon, everybody would know.. It would be all over.. Oh no.._

His eyes widened at your reaction, and raised his voice slightly to break through. "frisk."

"Y-y-you.. you s-said to g-get off y-your girlf-friend.." You managed to get the words out, feeling your body getting paler and paler. Sans cracked a smile and snorted, shifting his weight to his side. He folded his arms, letting go of you.

"heh. did'ya really worry about that asshole thinking you were single? 'cause if that's my competition, i'm gunna have to re-evaluate our relations—" He joked with you, and then stopped mid-sentence. You could see the gears just now moving in his head.

"oh. ohh… well, shit."

"Sans, we have to go after him right now!" Your voice shook in a sudden panic that took over your body. The captain couldn't find out.. he just couldn't..

 _It would be the end.._

"frisk, you sure about that?"

"I'm positive!" the urgency in your tone was unrivaled. "If he tells anyone about us.. all of the progress that I've made.. everything that I've done.. he'll destroy it all.." Your eyes began to water for the second time tonight. It had been a long time since you broke down like this. Sans grabbed your hands and looked at you with regret.

"jeez.. i'm sorry kid, it just slipped out. heat of the moment."

You took a sharp breath in. "Please, please. We have to stop him."

"i'll get him." You felt a pulling sensation, followed by the world around you spinning, then settling on the steps to your house. "you go inside. tori must be worried. you're late." Reaching into your pocket, you flipped out your phone hastily. Yep, three unread messages. Each more frantic than the next. You were surprised you didn't hear a search party. "i'll meet you upstairs after i've dealt with him."

You leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Fine. Just don't hurt him, okay?"

"sorry kid. hate making promises."

"Sans, don't you da-" He vanished from view.

Fuck.


	7. Chapter 7

You reappeared on the sidewalk near the tree that Andrew had been hurled into. Sighing towards the ground, the aura around your body evaporating. After examining a few tracks pushed down into the grass, you began walking across the park and down the sidewalk.

Outside demeanor displayed a level of calm, but truthfully, the interior was imploding. You hadn't stopped thinking about what he wanted to do to that kid since he watched his hands slide to his hips while he straddled her on the ground. What you could have done to him. What you should have done to him. Buddy had it coming, anyways. Always harassing Frisk for doing her damn job. She was right, it wasn't her fault for his dad having communication issues, that was his burden to bear.

As soon as you turned back and looked to her, it all melted away. All of the rage, the indescribable anger that had encapsulated your body and taken over, gone with a mere glance in your direction. You should have known. She has that effect on people.

Even when gathered with friends and family, her eyes always wavered on yours a little bit longer, like she was looking into your tormented, fucked up head and trying to unravel it piece by piece. Opening up to you about the monster that was torturing her as well. Confiding in each other. Well.. it couldn't have been a shock to anyone when it turned into.. uhh.. a bit more than that.

You loved her unconditionally since she was a child of course, but watching the young woman that she blossomed into had made you fall in love with her. You didn't really care for that kind of sappy language before, but understood where it originated now. She took care of you just as much as you took care of her. A hell of a lot more than you took care of yourself, anyways.

You continued shuffling down the road, when you saw something shiny on the ground up the road. "..huh." You examined it carefully before moving ahead. What was it, a remote? Something square shaped. And was that a keychain..? 

Oh, a cellphone.

You continued up to it and picked it up. Shifting the icon to the right to unlock the phone, you looked down at the display picture. You saw a cheery Andrew beaming up at you with his douche hat and his douche friends by the water. What a douche. You saw a raft of sorts in the background boarded up to the shore. "douche canoe.. heh." You chuckled to yourself.

Wait a minute.

Kids practically live off of their cellphones, what kind of teenager would just leave it in the middle of the road?

Even better, where the hell did he go?

You shot a glance down the road. No bitch boat in sight. Huh.. weird. Maybe you're losing your touch and he saw you and took off? 

"andrew. come out here." Your voice rang out calmly to the night. If he's stupid enough to pull that move on her, you venture a guess he might actually oblige. But.. nothing. Silence.

You decided to snoop around the phone, clicking the messenger icon. Looks like he hadn't sent any messages after you quarter after tree. You click on the phone icon, and look at the first outgoing call time.

It lasted about ten minutes, and about five minutes after he picked himself up and beat cheeks out of there.

To a 'Dad'.

The police captain.

An exhausted groan escapes your mouth as you bring your hand to your head, rubbing your bony fingers across your temple in frustration. _Fuck. God damnit. This fucking slimy piece of shit was going to ruin Frisk.. and any chance of monsters getting a chance at peace up here.. after everything that everyone had gone through to get here, this.._

 **Crrtk.**

Releasing your fingers from your vision, you look down. Most of the body of the phone was still in your hand, but a good chunk of it was now on the ground. You released the rest in frustration and littered the sidewalk with the remnants.

You had to stop this. What could you do.. presumably he already knew about you tossing his son around and your.. relationship.. what was there to do..

You had to deliver the bad news to her. There was no way you weren't going to go back and make sure that she was all right anyways, and you weren't one for keeping secrets with her. Not anymore. Swallowing your thoughts on presumably bad times ahead, you phased into a shortcut quickly, leaving the area. The broken phone was left scattered across the pavement.


	8. Chapter 8

You felt guilt crawl up her back as you slinked away from Toriel's voice, shouting a quick "HeymomsorryIwaslate,everythingsfineIgottagotobedthoughilltalktoyouinthemorning". You knew that if she got one clean look at you, she wouldn't let you go to bed until you told her what was going on. It could be dealt with in the morning. Exhaustion was slowly taking over from the day's events. Shutting the door to your room, you slid the backpack off to the side and put it by your desk. Approaching the bed slowly, you turned and sat down, burying your face in your hands.

You were concerned for Sans. Although it had been quite a number of years of peace, his eagerness to fight had filled you with worry. Back in the underground, it took a lot for him to be compelled to act. A lot of.. pretty bad stuff. But now he was arguing with you to beat the snot out of this kid.

 _Of course he is, he loves you and that guy tried to.._

You shuddered on the spot and breathing became heavy and laboured _. Would he have kept going if Sans hadn't been there? How far would he have gone to get you to quit? What would you have done? I mean.. you really could have acted. If you wanted. You had grown accustomed to giving mercy, you weren't really sure if you knew how, but.. you could have used your backpack. It was pretty heavy. Might have broke your laptop over his head, but it definitely would have stopped him. In fact.. it might have cracked his head open, with the force you could have brought it down with. You could hear his screaming fill your head in satisfaction. His pleading for help. Mercy. No such luck this time._

"frisk."

You snapped out of your psychosis and looked up to Sans, his manic grin tightened in.. what looked like fear. He took a few steps towards you pensively.

"hey, you ok buddy?"

It sounded as if he was testing the waters. Your eyes began to water, but you quickly brought your sleeve to your eyes and wiped them away. "Y-yeah.. sorry.." you sputtered out, it sounding unconvincing as it left your lips. He walked forward and sat down beside you slowly, then flopped his back across the bed and sent his arm to the side.

"cmere, pal."

You slowly laid down beside him, tucking yourself in between his side as he wrapped his arm around your side, bringing you close. You felt yourself instantly warm, despite the obvious lack of body heat. Gaining more control over your breathing, it began to slow down to a manageable rhythm. Wrapping your arm around his waist as well, you brought him into a tight hug. Looking up to him, you saw that his eyes were fixated on the ceiling, and he looked to be in deep thought.

"Thanks.. Sans. I was.. starting to lose my stomach there.

"heh."

You sat upright suddenly. His eyes narrowed.

"What happened with Andrew?"

"knock knock."

" ..Who's there."

"canoe."

"Canoe who."

"canoe wait 'til tomorrow, it's oar ready late."

You stifled a laugh under your breath as you scanned him. He couldn't have fought him.. no.. he would have told you right away. _Or would he hide it from you if he did?_

Every inch of you was shouting that this couldn't wait until morning. You had to know what happened. But.. it looked so inviting. Exhaustion began to take over. It won't hurt to lie down for a little bit. It was such a rough day today. Probably the most tiring since leaving the Underground. You lowered yourself back between his chest and arm.

As soon as you felt his boney fingers gently gliding up and down your hip, you closed your eyes and fell asleep.

You glided your hands up and down her side. She had passed out about three hours ago, but you were trying to make sure she stayed that way. Mostly because you just really didn't want to tell her the kind of shit they'd be in when she woke up. There was something else too. Phasing back into the room and after getting her attention, Frisk gave you a look that you recognized. It'd been around a year since you saw her that.. conflicted. The night you got together. She snapped out of it pretty quickly, but definitely delivering the news now would risk throwing her over the edge. Give it a good night's rest first.

You felt a vibration coming from your side pocket. i"Shit.."/i you exhale softly. Slowly and carefully, you manage to slide your arm from her side and into your opposite side's pocket, retrieving your cellphone. Frisk stirs a bit in her sleep. You raise the phone over your eyelids and look at the message quizzically.

'SANS, WHERE ARE YOU? I WOKE UP AND WANTED TO CHECK ON YOU, BUT YOU WEREN'T IN YOUR ROOM.'

'IT'S FAR TOO LATE TO BE WORKING.'

You scrolled down the message tab.

'AND TOO EARLY FOR BRUNCH.'

'I'M WORRIED.'

You carefully typed a message back to Papyrus with your free fingers.

"heya. be back soon pap."

Slipping the phone back into your pocket carefully, your eyes lowered to Frisk. She was out cold.. and was probably going to stay that way until the morning. Her chest raised and lowered against you gently, her hair fanned out across your arm. Her face was perfect.. besides the slightly purple tint between her chin and ear where she was struck, her features were quite soft. She had really grown into a beautiful young woman.

And now you had to somehow get her off you.

Without making a sound, you slowly began tediously sliding your arm out from under her head. As you were retracting, you heard a delicate sigh escape her lips and her eyes scrunch up a bit. You took the opportunity and gained your arm back, causing her to sink against the pillow.

Good, still asleep.

You stood up from the bed quietly and took one last look at her before you teleported outside of the house. It was a pretty short walk from Toriel's to your place, and after giving Papyrus a heads up, walking back should be fine. Besides, it was probably a good idea to check out the scene again to see if you were lucky enough to run into Andrew.


	9. Chapter 9

_welp. that wasn't happening._

Scanning the road, you saw about three or four police cars with their lights flashing across the residential houses. A few people were looking out of their windows, trying to get an idea on what was happening on their street. There was some police barricade down the road as well. A few officers were standing around too. You had overheard something about the kid not coming home, and the police captain not being able to track him down. Most of them were complaining about having to run around town this early in the morning trying to chase the boss's ignorant kid down. That had brought a little joy into your life.

Wonder where he went. Did he haul ass out of Ebott because he knew Frisk was going to file a report against him? Or maybe he took off because he was scared of you catching up to him..

Either way, you weren't going to stick around. You had to assume that the kid had told the head of police that a small skeleton monster had attacked him, so your name was imaginably the first one of suspect if the kid had left. You could feel the magic pulsating in your core, and your environment began to warp.

You materialized behind the house near the shed and began walking around the house to the front door. Your body stopped abruptly when you took a glance through the window.

Papyrus was in front of the couch, looking as if he was having an animated discussion with two police officers.

 _Fuck._

Before you could formulate a plan in your head, your brother noticed you through the window and lit up. One of the officers quickly turned afterwards and his body reflectively tightened up. He shouted through the house to you.

"Stay where you are!"

You shifted your weight a bit, annoyed. Papyrus looked a bit perplexed and began trying to speak to the officer, but both of their attention was now on you. While one of the officers stayed with Pap and kept eyes on you, the other made his way out of the front of the house and met you in the yard.

A half-hearted greeting escaped you. "heya."

"Are you Sans?"

"yep."

"Sans the Skeleton?"

You looked up and down the man as if waiting for a punchline. "you.. you're joking, right?"

He began to advance towards you. Oh my god, he wasn't joking. You trembled a bit, containing your laughter. His eagerness from shouting in your house seemed to disappear the second he was in front of you. Poor guy was sweating bullets. "We're just following up on a missing persons' case, and I'm going to have to ask you to come with us for a few questions."

Your eyes lowered in thought. So that was it then. He really did take off.

But then your stomach turned with a sickening thought. What if the kid hadn't left town. What if the kid wasn't finished with what he started at the park, and had even more gas under the fire to get it done..

Oh no.

You tried to maintain your composure as the weight of the scenario dawned on you.

"yeah, buddy. i'll come with you. but uhh.. you gotta do something for me. right now."

"Negotiating right off the bat, huh.." the officer looked a little more at ease with the leverage in his hands now. "All right, what is that."

"send someone to frisk's house. now. i'll explain everything, but she might be in danger."

You hated relying on anyone for anything, but if you had left now you'd be even worse off. If you used a shortcut now to check up on her, this guy and the authority would know about your capabilities, and that couldn't amount to a good time. Besides, you were just there with her.

The officer gave you a look and seemed to understand your concern. He turned off to the side, removing his communication device and made the call. Just listening to his tone, you knew. He wasn't just humouring you. He believed in your concern. This guy was one of the good ones.

Frisk had been talking to you about the good humans. The kind people that she had met in the last six years in her line of work. People that understood the difference between humans and monsters; nothing. The ones who showed love and compassion to everyone, regardless of race. Thank goodness one decided to show up now.

The officer relayed the information to Sans, breaking him from thought. "All right, we've got a car on their way to make sure everyone's all right and to patrol the area."

You gave a deep sigh of relief. "thanks, buddy. just had tibia sure she's all right. wanna head off?"

"BROTHER, WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Turning to the door, your eyes met the worried gaze of Papyrus as well as the other officer. Poor Pap. He hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on. He must be so confused.

"hey bro." you smiled at him warmly, to no response. Yeah, he's really bothered. You sighed lowly, giving a glance to the officer to your side before you answered his silence. "frisk ran into some trouble tonight, and i stopped it." You heard his breath catch for a moment. "it's all good though, these guys just wanna know what happened. so, uh.. i'm gunna go explain it, ok?"

He shifted his weight, eyeing you pensively. Not a lot of people gave enough credit to Papyrus, he could read situations better than anyone you knew. He just knew when and when not to fight or act. It made him one of the best sparring partners, too.

"SANS, WHAT SHOULD I DO? SHOULD I COME ALONG OR SHOULD I GO CHECK ON TORIEL'S HOUSE?"

You smiled to him. "s'all good here, bro. but i'm sure there's going tibia little confusion at tori's house. could you head over and explain what's happening to everyone for me?"

The fire ignited behind his eyes with purpose. "SANS, OF COURSE I CAN DO THAT FOR YOU! I WISH YOU WOULD ENTRUST ME MORE OFTEN, BUT I'LL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW GREAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN BE!" He approached you and gave you a solid hug, taking you back a bit. "BE SAFE, BROTHER! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!" His look gave you an overwhelming sense of sincerity. You had the best brother in the world.

"thanks pap. see ya later."

As Papyrus took off down the sidewalk in a sort of fast-jogging expedition, your heard the police officer to your left laugh to himself quietly.

"He's uhh.. quite the character. Your brother, I mean. When we told him why we were here, he just went on a twenty-minute advertisement in how great you are. Apparently your jokes suck, though." As he spoke, you noticed the police officer that was with Papyrus began to walk towards you two, and it seemed as if he was giving the other guy a look. A look that said to stop talking to the guy we're supposed to be retrieving.

"dunno 'bout that, i think they're pretty humerus."


	10. Chapter 10

You woke up to a start to a banging sound. Sitting up from the bed, you rubbed the side of her face solemnly. Wonder if it was actually going to bruise?

Standing up and approaching the door mirror, you answered herself quickly. A purple mark appeared on the skin just a bit underneath the cheek. Damnit. You chocked it up to bruising like a peach, it had to be; the hit didn't even really hurt, it was more of a stinging feeling afterward.

How could someone have such a weak attack in that moment of passion? Maybe you were giving him the short end of the stick. All of the exchanges and endurance tests you faced in the Underground must have created a tough exterior, all bruised peaches aside.

The thoughts were interrupted again by a rapping sound at the front door. You opened the bedroom door quietly, pacing down the hallway. It sounded like there was some stirring in Tori and Asgore's bedroom, so you quickly approached the front door, opening it a crack to see who was there.

The darkness of night was cut by the flashing of blue and red lights. Standing in front of the door was a police officer.

Oh no. What had happened? Did Andrew call the cops on her? What on earth would he have made up to get her in trouble with the authorities? Or maybe they were looking for Sans..

 _Wait a minute, where the hell did Sans go?_

You had fallen asleep beside him and just noticed that he wasn't there when she woke up.

You had a bad feeling about this.

"Good morning, Frisk. Apologies for having to knock on the door so early.." he paused as a cue to open the door a bit more for himself. ".. but can you step outside for a quick second? I just wanted to talk to you about a couple things.

"Frisk, sweetheart, who's at the door?"

Toriel was approaching from the hallway, rubbing her eyes slowly. When you had turned to answer her, her face twisted into a shocked expression. "Honey, what happened to your face?!"

Even at three o'clock in the morning with only the light reflected from the police siren, she noticed the injury immediately. Have to hand it to Toriel, she's an amazing mother. She approached her and slowed, noticing the officer at the door. "Oh, good morning officer. Is there a problem?" She opened the door fully to the officer now. It was hard to read Toriel at that point, but safe to say she was extraordinarily confused.

The police officer's expression seemed to drop slowly. "Frisk, who was the one who gave you that mark?" You looked off to the side dismissively. You could feel Toriel's hot gaze upon her, awaiting her response as well. "It was Andrew, yeah?" the cop finished.

Toriel inhaled before she lost all composure. "Frisk, that Andrew child was bullying you again tonight? I was wondering why you ran up to your room so fast after being late tonight, and now I've got my answer, don't I." She looked down to the ground in disappointment. "You know I'm only trying to help, young one, please don't conceal yourself from me again."

You swallowed hard and felt a sinking in your chest. Toriel's sadness in your decisions was too much to bear. You didn't want Tori knowing what Andrew tried to pull, but it seemed like there was no other choice. Defeated, you retold the events of the night to her and the officer, your voice failing you a few times but always returning in determination. When the story had finished, Toriel's eyes were watering.

"Oh, my child.." She grabbed you and pulled you into a tight hug, wrapping one arm around your head and tucking it into her chest. The police officer at the door, who had introduced himself as Joaquin, had taken a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Toriel released from her embrace of you, bringing her hand to wipe the tears away from your eyes. "It'll be okay, they'll find him." Her eyes shot to Joaquin sharply. "You WILL find him, right?"

He flipped the cover with a flick of his wrist and put away his notepad. He had taken it out when you began recalling the events to him. It seemed like he had everything he needed at this point. "Well, we've been looking for him all night and morning, but haven't found him anywhere. Of course, we'll keep an eye out and patrol the area until we can catch up to him."

"Now, I'm going to ask you to come into the station in the morning to give an official report on what happened tonight. I'm sure the captain of the force will be there as well, maybe you can let him know too."

Their concentration was broken by some clacking noises getting louder and louder. As the three of you looked out the window, you saw Papyrus doing a sort of running-man up the road and to the door.

"FRISK! TORIEL! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPY-"

The officer took a step towards him to defend the household. You shook your head. "N-no, Joaquin, he's a friend." His features softened. He really seemed like a good guy. Probably just inherently defensive with monsters.

".. PAPYRUS. THE GREAT PAPYRUS. I AM HERE BECAUSE SANS TOLD ME YOU MIGHT NEED SOME HELP. IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?"

"Yeah, Pap, everything's fine. This kind officer was just checking up on us." You gave him a patient smile. Joaquin beams towards you and puffs out a little. He looks proud. "Where's Sans?"

"WELL, HE SAID THAT HE WAS GOING TO GO WITH THE POLICEMEN TO GIVE A STATEMENT. THE OFFICER THAT I WAS TALKING TO, HOWEVER, SEEMED MORE FILLED WITH THE ARREST-Y IDEA. HUMAN, PLEASE INFORM ME ON WHAT AN ARREST IS. ARE THEY TAKING HIM SOMEWHERE TO TAKE A NAP? HE ALREADY HAS FAR TOO MANY OF THOSE."


	11. Chapter 11

To say that it was a long night would be the grossest understatement of the century.

Papyrus had called the family up before he ran over to Toriel's house. Despite it being four in the morning, Alphys and Undyne showed up at the house as well. You can remember Undyne grilling you about the mark on your face, and begging the police officer to join in the manhunt. To be honest, it'd be the perfect job for her if they allowed monsters on the force. Human hunting was her specialty, after all.

Toriel had also woken Asgore up from his deep sleep. When he was informed about what happened, he was crushed, and then absolutely livid. You hadn't seen that side of him before. The protective stance that only a father could take once his daughter was threatened in that way. You considered yourself lucky to have him in your life.

You managed to be let free from the family of monsters to get a couple hours of sleep before heading to the police station in the morning. You can remember arguing with the officer about Sans. After all, even though it was a little heavy-handed, he was only protecting you. What grounds would they be holding him on? You realised that it was a pointless fight however, they couldn't do anything about it until you got in to talk to the head of the police station.

The captain.

You were _well_ acquainted.

You knew him better as Tristian. You really.. felt bad for him. It had been a constant struggle between the two of you for quite a few years, sure, but it was only due to the pressure of businesses, organizations and hate groups that were against coinciding with the monsters. He was really just the messenger of the damned.

It seemed that he was so caught up in the stress of work and trying to satisfy both parties, he was losing out on some much needed family time. The wife and mother of Andrew had apparently taken off from the pressure. She was the second of the five who disappeared. His resistance probably had a lot to do with that as well. Maybe somewhere in his mind, he thought that if he got rid of what caused his partner to take off, that she would come back.

You'd been waiting in his office for a while, now. It was a little past ten o'clock, and your mind was racing. First priority is to get Sans out of detainment. Secondly, we had to find Andrew, wherever he was. Your family and friends were far too worried about you and you didn't like to keep anyone on edge on your behalf. It made you feel bad. Oh, damnit, you had your short essay to turn in today too. Well, hopefully he'd be a bit more understanding this time, maybe you could get a note from Tristian about where you were..

Seemingly on cue, the door flew open and Tristian walked in and sat down quickly. His eyes looked heavy, for sure he didn't get any sleep last night. Maybe for a few nights.

"Good morning, Frisk. How are you feeling this morning." His voice rang solemnly and flat.

"Morning, Tristian.. I'm uhm.. I mean.. doing as well as I can" you gave him a smile. Poor guy. He really didn't want to be here, he wanted to be looking for his son. To be honest, you would be doing the same, if you didn't have something to take care of first.

His eyes reached the side of your face. "Jeez, kid. That's gotta sting. I've uhh.. been told that.. Drew did that to you. Is that what happened?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." you began, and told him what had happened. At this point, retelling the story was getting more and more uncomfortable. You could feel your face redden in a mixture of shame and embarrassment.

You had never had a.. well.. a sexual encounter before, politically speaking. Sure, you had kissed Sans, but that's always as far as it got. There was an incredible disappointment that came with knowing that this unsavoury experience would be the pretense for anything that followed. You wanted your first experience to be.. magical.

You concluded with your head lowered.

"That's what a few of the men told me as well. I just want to tell you, Frisk, I apologize sincerely for what my son has done last night. Trust in the fact that when we do find him, I will personally be involved in making sure he faces the fullest extent of justice." His sincerity struck you as surprising. You couldn't imagine siding with anyone but your child as a parent, even if they were in the wrong. And especially in this case, where he could have so much leverage on what actually could be done.

"We've had officers circling each section of the town, he'll eventually turn up. Can't hide forever." His eyes grimaced with the last sentence.

"That sounds like a good plan. I'm actually more worried about him getting into more trouble, so hopefully he does show up soon." You replied.

"Now, I've heard you're taking issue with the monster we have in holding right now, yeah?"

"Yes, and his name is Sans." Your eyes narrowed.

"Sure, right, Sans." he corrected. "Unfortunately, until we pick up Drew, we've got to keep him in holding. He's been very honest with the officers and told him that he acted and fought in your self defense. Which we can't fault him for. However.. " his brows furrowed as his voice lowered to you in a serious tone. ".. there is some concern that Sans did more than stop him. Drew's been missing since incident, and we have enough to hold Sans in custody until he is found."

"W-what? But he hasn't done anything wrong, Tristian, I swear! He wouldn't have done this. Andrew's just probably run away, afraid of the consequences of what he's done." The words fell from you in a pleading tone.

Tristian took a heavy breath inward. "Y'know, I got a call from Andrew last night. He uhh... was more adamant in telling me about something interesting about you and that Sans character." Your body froze in shock. _Not cool, Andrew._ You knew if he thought he had a chance to ruin the ambassador and her work, this guy was going to do it. He wanted his dad back. In his eyes, getting rid of you was the only solution.

"But," he continued "when I asked him how he knew, and what had happened, he didn't answer. I already knew he couldn't have been up to any good to get that kind of information. When I pushed further, the call ended and that was the last I heard from him. So it makes your story all the more plausible. If anyone was after my wife.." he drew in air slowly, eyes lowering to his knees. "I'd do anything in my power to stop him."

You didn't know what to say. You knew Tristian was a smart guy, just under a lot of pressure and terribly influenced. Now you were sure of it, he was one of the good ones.

"It's just that the law's out of my hands, Frisk. We've got to hold him until Andrew decides to show up. Rest assured that I'll be stopping everything until he turns up. We'll also have cruisers checking up on your place of residence in case he decides to show up there, but it's hard to know if that's his motive right now. Who knows what he's thinking.."

"You're.. you're right, Tristian. It's okay. I forgive you. You're just doing your job." you spoke in resolve. "I'm down to help out in any way possible if you need it. Can I go talk to him, though? Sans, I mean."

"Of course. I'll get someone to escort you down right now." His eyes remained lowered but you could see him reaching for the phone on the desk.

You stood up suddenly, looking down to him in confidence. "I'll leave you to your work then, Captain Tristian. Thank you so much. For everything." You instilled your hope into the man. It seemed like he was fighting to make it through, the same as you.

He looked up from his lap. "Thank you, Frisk."

You exited his office, closing the door gently behind you with a click. You stood around awkwardly for a few minutes, bouncing on your heels, waiting for an officer to take you to him. You were worried about Sans and how he was holding up.


	12. Chapter 12

You should not have been worried about Sans and how he was holding up.

You found him sitting on a bench in the holding cell and the rest of the inmates in their surrounding cells in hysterics. Seems like he took the opportunity to work on his comedy act. What a great way to stay in good spirits. You had to hand it to him, he was handling this pretty well.

As soon as his eyes met yours however, the laughter stopped.

"there you are, kiddo." his expression turned to relief. He looked similar to Tristian, as in he didn't get a wink of sleep either. "sup." He adds, grinning widely.

You gave him a comforting smile. "Hey, Sans." You thought about talking to him about why he had left in the morning. Where he could have gone. If he had found Andrew and done something that she should know about before she defends him. Why he didn't stay in bed with you.

However, glancing at the officers guarding the door, you opted to save the incriminating questions to yourself. As you thought, Sans narrowed his eyes in thought and folded his arms against his sweater, his grin tightening. He could read you like a book.

"what'd captain crunch say."

"I wish you'd stop calling him that." You remarked.

"all right." he inhaled, not skipping a beat. "what say captain underpants."

The snickering started up again among the detainees. "Come on, Sans, knock it off." You hardened.

"aye, aye, captain."

The snickering turned into a few booming chuckles, held back once you shot a glance towards their direction. You turned back to Sans.

"He's got to hold you in here."

"..what. why?" he stood up from the bench, shoving his hands into his pockets and approaching the gates in disappointment. You felt terrible for him.

"It's only until they catch Andrew. I'm pretty sure they think that you killed him." You said flatly.

He turned to the side and snorted loudly. "hmm.. interesting take. did you tell him he was a moron?"

"Look, obviously I know that you'd never do anything like tha-"

"thanks, captain obvious."

You sighed, ignoring the smirks. You knew he was just trying to lighten the mood, but this was serious. "It's protocol. They haven't found him yet, so they're keeping you here. When they find him, then you can come back out. Everyone out here will be looking for him. We're going to find him. Until then, I need to you behave in here, all right? We don't need any more trouble."

He retracted one of his hands from his pocket, putting it on his hip and sighing. "this is annoying." he lowered his voice to you now. "i could find this guy in no time. it'd be safer. ..for everyone." he added the last part after pausing.

You matched his volume. "There's no way they wouldn't notice you were gone, and then you'd be a fugitive on the run. Doesn't that sound infinitely more annoying?" 

"yes."

"Well then, looks like they're gunna have to just do their jobs and find the guy. Everything's going to be okay. Just please, don't take off, okay?" you desperately wanted to latch on to him in some way, any way. This was one of the most exhausting experiences you've had since you've been on the surface, and every part of your body just wanted to curl up against the short skeleton.

He looked into your eyes carefully, slowly formulating his next response.

"k."

"Okay?"

"yeah. just stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I can do that." Your voice lowered into a whisper. "Take care of yourself, okay?" you said genuinely. His expression seemed to relax.

"k."

"All right, see you later, Sans." was not what you wanted to tell him. You wanted to apologize for all the trouble this has caused. You wanted to tell him that you were sorry he was stuck and you wouldn't stop fighting until he was released. You wanted to tell him that you missed him last night. That you had trouble getting to sleep and staying down, for that matter. That his arm wrapped around your waist while you slept was the only thing that really worked.

But you couldn't. You had to say goodbye. Not only were there civilians in here, but officers as well. It couldn't be helped. You did your best to convey your feelings through your eyes. You felt your chest sink and an overwhelming feeling of longing take you over. His demeanor remained unaffected. Oh well, it was worth a shot. You could almost feel the light leave your eyes.

You turned and left the holding area. You shouldn't have worried about him. He was the strongest person that you knew, and probably one of the best suited to handle something like this.

He didn't advertise it, but the both of you knew that he was one of the strongest boss monsters who ever lived. Sans had some incredible attacks. He could summon skulls at any time to completely annihilate anything in his way. He used telekinesis and can move anything just with magic alone, including souls. He could teleport on a whim.

Even with all of this power, you've only experienced it through memories of a past timeline. More nightmares than memories. Perhaps he concealed himself because he's just lazy. You'd like to think of it as him being aligned closer to your fighting technique. Which is to not fight. The kinder and peaceful solution. That wouldn't have worked in that timeline, though. That was the one where Chara got control of your body. Where you had destroyed not only the monster species, but the Underground in its' entirety. Everyone. Your friends and family.

You couldn't bring yourself to think about it anymore. Instead, your mind wandered to the funny skeleton. He was doing just fine in the cell. He was probably better off anyways. Andrew wouldn't be able to reach him if he's in the police station. Well.. it's probably more like Sans wouldn't be able to reach Andrew if he's in the station. You exited the police station and walked towards Joaquin and his cruiser for a lift home.

Yeah, he should stay here.

And yet..

Something felt unsettling about leaving him here.


	13. Chapter 13

Finally you returned home once the days' events were done with. Giving Joaquin a quick wave goodbye, you shut the door behind you with a click. The wind whips from the outside of the door. It was nearing December, and there still wasn't any snow on the ground. The temperature outside suggested that it all must be hiding somewhere. The wind cut through you and took your breath away when you took a step outside. Neighbours started putting out their holiday decorations and lights around their homes. Hats and mittens began appearing everywhere like loose change scattered around a house.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" you bellowed to the bedroom.

As you were taking off your winter equips, Toriel emerged from the bedroom.

"Hello, dear. We were trying to wait up for you, but Gorey couldn't make it. Did everything go all right tonight?" she paused. "Did you guys find him?"

You frowned naturally. "No, unfortunately not."

"Oh, that is too bad. Well, do not be afraid, my child. The officers will apprehend him in time."

"I know, mom, I know." You smiled to her in comfort. "I'm sorry for keeping you up, but I'm in now and I'm exhausted. I'm going to go to bed."

"All right, dear. Love you!"

You slinked upstairs after a quick "Love you too, mom" to Tori and retreated to your room. You slid your book bag down by the desk and made a straight shot for the bed. You not so gracefully belly flopped onto the mattress. Grabbing a pillow and squeezed it against yourself, you buried your head into it.

What a wearing day it had been.

You spent the morning and most of the afternoon at the police station with Sans and Tristian. That was followed up with an exhausting day at school. Attack or no attack, your presentation was due in history. Even though you had a note from the police captain, your teacher gave you no slack. You're sure if you fought it and went to the principal you could get an extension, but.. it couldn't be helped. Mr. Bartok was immune to any discussion regarding your work as ambassador. If you were talking to your classmates and giving them updates, he would silence you immediately. He would purposefully call on you and isolate you from the class. He used to grade you pretty unfairly until he was given a talking to by the principal. You had told Tristian what was going on and he decided to have a talk with the appropriate parties. It was one of the first instances where you understood that Tristian was actually listening to you.

You were already drained though. If you took on something else, you weren't sure if you could remain a functioning human being. Besides, the police captain had enough on his damn plate.

You actually didn't do terrible with the presentation. It was a good thing that you weren't much of a procrastinator. If you hadn't done all of the prepwork beforehand, it would have been a disaster.

School was then immediately followed by an evening of patrolling around the town looking for Andrew.

You had split up into search parties. Undyne, excitement for being back on a human hunt after six years, knew no bounds as she raced away from the gathering place, Alphys hanging off her hand and holding on for what looked like dear life. Toriel and Asgore had come up with a heavily detailed map blocked off in sections of the town, and they said they were looking row by row until he was found. Of course Tori was the brains of the operation. It came with being a teacher. Planning a search party was the same as coming up with a teaching plan for the day in her mind. Enough work and research, and you can get anything done. However, they had turned in early

Mettaton was doing his best to get the information out to the monsters that the humans might be at a heightened state of security. It happened for the last five as well, regardless of whether or not it was ever connected to a monster. There seemed to be more incidents and more attacks from the humans, and it wasn't going to be long until it escalated. Some of the newer rules that were being proposed to a vote included an amendment on monster employment, and it looked as if the approved roles amounted to that of only minimum-wage service jobs. Mettaton definitely wouldn't be able to keep his talk show if it went through. You worried about the same fate for Toriel.

It was one of the driving reasons why you couldn't stop fighting. If Toriel wasn't allowed to be a teacher, she wouldn't be happy. It would take away one of the reasons she was here. Not everyone is born to be a teacher, but you were sure Toriel was the best example of the latter. The thought of her being aimlessly lost and despondent terrified you.

Sans would run into trouble as well. Not so much with the new law, since selling hotdogs and other things from his sentry station was considered a service job. More with the encouragement of humans to keep isolating monsters. He didn't have a hard time keeping his cool. Usually you'd see him laugh it off or make a joke when verbal vomit was spewed in his direction. But you knew it couldn't last forever, especially if it only continued to get worse.

Mettaton was also meant to be on the screen. It was easy to get that across to humans that happened to watch his show. His outlandish and quirky hosting style had set himself apart from other television personalities. It garnered him a following, but of course with that line of work there's bound to be some hate as well. He dealt with it in his own way, but you could tell if someone had gotten to him just by looking at him. You could recall one instance where you might have heard one sentence from him for an entire night of hanging out with the group.

He had his own MTT-style of getting information to the people though, and you had faith that he'd get the message across somehow tonight.

That left Papyrus and yourself, alongside one of the police officers from the station. You had asked if Joaquin or Tristian could come out, but no such luck. Instead, you were sent an officer who seemed extraordinarily hesitant to be in Papyrus's area. That is, if his area was a Grillby's-sized building around him. How could people honestly listen to Pap for more than five minutes and still be frightened or agitated? It was a mystery you would never be able to solve.

The search had come up fruitless, but you did have a pretty good conversation with Papyrus while the officer was keeping eyes on you in the distance. You talked about Sans of course, and how you two were going to surprise him at the house with a spaghetting-outta-jail dinner. You had planned a sort of 'grats on being sprung' pie gag too, but realized that neither of you had the capabilities to pull off a smaller pie being catapulted from a regular sized pie. You made sure to joke with him a little more than usual to make up for his brother's absence. He really did lose a bit of that spring in his step.

It was a little bit chilly in the bedroom, so you grabbed some extra blankets, brought your blankets closer to you and spun them around yourself tightly. You gave your backpack a glance, thinking about trying to get some work done, but it was already too late. Besides, your eyes were so heavy, it'd be an exercise in futility to get up now.

You closed your eyes and allowed your mind to wander aimlessly until you fell into sleep.

You sat up groggily and were hit with a blast of cold. You could feel a light wind in your room, cutting into your cheeks. You turned slightly to your alarm clock in confusion. Only two in the morning? Why would you be-

It was at that moment that you felt a squeeze around your neck.

 _W-what?!_

You felt your eyes widen in shock. The air escaped your lungs quickly and you were gasping frantically after a few moments.

 _ **What the hell was going on?!**_

You tried to yell out to Toriel for help. Someone. Anyone. As soon as your mouth opened to scream, you felt a tightening around your neck. It was in that moment that the thought crossed your mind. You're going to die here.

You're going to die and you didn't get to save the monsters. You didn't get to see peace between the monsters and the humans. The integration of two societies. Monster and human integrated schools. Toriel teaching without worrying every night she came home that it would be coming to an end soon. Mettaton getting his own channel and having not only the monsters but humans in his audience. He could've been reaching so much more people with his positivity. You wouldn't get to see Alpyhs and Undyne get engaged, or married for that matter. You would never see Papyrus again.. _or get to see Sans again.._

Tears began streaming down and soaking into the blankets. The last wisp of air in your lungs left you being accompanied by an involuntary gargle.

 _Was that going to be your last exchange with him? Really? About dumb captain jokes? You couldn't say what you wanted the other night. You didn't even get to express how much you loved him.. how you honestly felt when you got to see him. How much you appreciated him looking after you and protecting you. How he ensured that no matter what terrible thoughts were in your head, that you were going to pull through. How happy he made you.._

Darkness poured into your vision before you could act, and the world went black.


	14. Chapter 14

The moonlight poured into the cell through the small barred window near the top of the room. Sitting on the cold metal bench, you twiddled your boney thumbs in boredom. Why the hell wouldn't they close that off. Did the snow just pour into the cell and fill it up when winter rolled along? Was that their method of execution for death row? Did they have a cover that they put on when the weather started to change? It was changing now. Glancing down the hallways and seeing nobody, you thought you should bring it up to the guard when he comes around again.

The guard was kind of a dick though. Maybe when Frisk comes back she can talk to Captain America on your behalf.

You understood why Frisk was so serious when she came in the night before, but you didn't really want her to know that. They were suspecting that you had killed the kid. Of course you needed to be on your best behaviour. This could be the defining event that had the power to swing the vote of segregation. If they did catch Andrew and he confessed to attacking her, it would show that even when faced with violence, monsters would never fight humans. That the supposed killer instincts of monsters were nonexistent. A condition created by humans to uncomplicated the situation. Of course you understood the gravity of the events taking place. Gravity was your specialty.

It was now Saturday evening. You had been in the small cell for two days. It hadn't been cozy, but you were used to sleeping just about anywhere. The only problem that you had faced was the cold lesson in futility. That kid was out there somewhere, possibly planning his next move on yourself or Frisk. It eased your mind slightly to know that everyone, including the human authorities, were on the hunt. To not be able to help, however, was keeping you on edge.

It was possible that the guy skipped town as well. What would happen to you if they didn't find him? I mean, you could always just leave. Just bone up and back out.

The thought left your mind when you thought of Frisk approaching an empty cell. She would be absolutely crushed. She asked you to stay here, and the conviction behind her words told a story. A story that you could wordlessly decipher. She's going to do everything she can to take care of this.

Paps had come in last night after patrolling with her. Said that it looked like she was putting up a tough front. She was exhausted. These vexing few days had really done a number on her. You had the best brother in the world. He was deceptively attentive and could see through the surface of people. Then he would do his utmost to cheer them up, usually in the gooniest way imaginable.

It had been an interesting experience training with him for the last few years. Sure, you were unarguably one of the laziest beings in existence when everyone was underground. But that was before you knew there was a way out. A stop to all of the mindless resetting and erasing of timelines. Who wouldn't be a little apathetic with that knowledge? You took a few years to train on your own under the guise of traveling, and then another few with Paps. He was the perfect sparring partner for you with your dismal health point, being able to stop an attack at any point in time. You'd managed to get your endurance up. It was the one thing that had consistently destroyed him in the bad runs. Always too tired to keep fighting. Still couldn't get the health up, though.

Your head tilted upwards as you heard a slamming door around the hallway corner. Finally. She said she was coming in the morning. You had thought up telling her she had a tendon-see to be unpunctual and stifled a chuckle.

When you saw Papyrus round the corner, your heart dropped to your feet.

The difference was staggering. When he came in Thursday night he put on a good front to not show his concern for you. He was your boisterous brother coming to cheer you up.

This was not that Papyrus. He looked bone-weary, drained of all happiness and energy. It appeared as if he was crying, but you weren't aware that you or your brother had that capability. You weren't even sure if you had the capability. He trudged down the hallway with his eyes locked to the ground, his head lowered. You immediately jumped up from the bench and moved to the front of the cell. Your boney fingers wrapped around the bars and you leaned your head over desperately.

"paps. bro. what's.."

He meandered in front of your cell and turned on his spot, facing you. You knew right then. Looking into his lifeless and darkened eyes. You have never seen your brother this dispirited in your life. Something happened.

"pap. hey. whats wrong. did you find andrew?" Papyrus dropped his skull hastily and began sniffling.

"H-hey.. Sans.. I- NYOO HOO HOO.." he began and immediately disintegrated, falling to his knees. He grabbed the bars on the outer sides of the ones you firmly tightened your grip on. He desperately locked eyes with the ground, sobbing hard. You felt helpless. Your eyes wandered to the guard in the corner. The guard that gave you animosity for the last two days. The guard that gave you shit for making the prisoners laugh. He looked at you with sadness and opened the holding room door, giving you two your space. You couldn't believe what you just saw. That was the most human thing you'd seen out of the human.

Your brother, now matching your height kneeling on the ground, raised his eyes to you in bitter determination.

"paps. it's ok. just tell me what's gotten under your skin"

"It's.. it's.. F-frisk" he began, "s-she's.. she's gone, brother."

Silence had taken the room over, minus Papyrus's stifled weeping.

"where?" the word left coldly.

"W-w-what?" Papyrus opened his eyes a little more, clearly nervous. He was literally chattering his bones shaking so hard.

"where'd she go." The words left you emotionless. You wanted a different answer, but you expected the response.

"N-n-no, b-brother, she w-was.. taken aw-away.."

You opened your mouth to speak, hesitated, and closed it just as quickly. It was your fault. It was all your fault. You shouldn't have relied on anyone but yourself to take care of her. It was how it's been in his heart since he'd met her. He had to watch over her. First for Toriel, and then for himself. You hadn't been there for her.

You no longer cared about her work as ambassador. Her progress with the humans. This kid.. Andrew.. was going to fucking die.

The energy began pouring out of your body, centralizing around your eye socket, illuminating the room and your surroundings. Papyrus instinctively grabs onto your arms through the prison bars, knowing your next move. 

"SANS, NO. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS. THEY'RE GOING TO RELEASE YOU NOW. THE CAPTAIN. HE WANTS YOUR HELP. WE TALKED TO HIM AFTER SHE DISAPPEARED THIS MORNING AND IT TURNS OUT THAT THEY CAN ONLY HOLD YOU FOR FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. THEY'RE.. THEY'RE LETTING YOU GO, SANS. WE TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING ALL DAY."

You heard the first half of the paragraph and everything else went fuzzy. Letting go of the bars and taking a step back, you straightened up and looked down on your brother. You could feel the energy leaving your body, but couldn't do a thing about it.

Papyrus held his determined speech in wait.

"..this morning."

"S-SANS, I KNOW WHAT YOURE THINKING. W-WE WANTED TO COME.. BUT I KNEW Y-YOU WOULD HAVE J-JUST LEFT.." his drive slowly deteriorated back into choked cries. "WE W-ERE LOOKING FOR H-HER.. ALL DAY.. WE H-HAD TO G-GET YOU RELEASED.. FIRST.."

"B-BROTHER?"

Your head was lowered in thought. She's been missing half the day already. If he took her to kill her, she was already gone. If not.. then..

She's been going through god knows what for.. twelve.. hours..

Your teeth begin to grind together in a feeble attempt to control your anger. It can't be helped.

"BROTHER, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING."

You shoot him the most despicable look you've ever given him. Your eyes empty and void of all the compassion you had for him when he came in. You couldn't grace his following expression with a description. You didn't hang around long enough to do so.

Closing your eyes and opening them, you appeared outside of Toriel's home. You knocked on the door. It immediately swung open to Toriel looking terrible and desperate. You hoped to never see her in that state ever again. She stifled calling her daughter's name out, and nothing else was spoken between you. You both wrapped each other in a hug tightly while she leaned down and sobbed into your shoulder. You could have spent an infinity comforting her, but there was work to be done. You let her go and she retreated back to Asgore who was in the living room, collapsing into him. You move the other way, and grab the first door to the right of the entrance. Frisk's room.

You swing the door open and you find yourself frozen. The room was oddly peaceful. Nothing was really disturbed or knocked over. You expected her to put up a fight of some kind if she was apparently taken against her will. The only thing that stood out was the lack of bedding on the bed. Specks of blood patterned the mattress and flooring.

 _No.._

You grit your teeth further into a pained smile and lost control of yourself in a fury of energy, disappearing instantly from the room.


	15. Chapter 15

You watched the sun rise off the coast bitterly. 

Nearly seven in the morning. You had spent nearly eight hours looking everywhere you could think of. You checked through every single room and closet of Frisk's high school. You returned to the police station to comb through the building. The officers that remained at the building that weren't canvasing the city were nonplussed at your reappearance. Tristian overlooked your search, arms folded and without a word shared between the two of you. You couldn't come up with any conversation topics.

You didn't find her anywhere.

You had knocked on doors of a few of her school friends and acquaintances earlier in the night as well. There weren't too many happy customers, but you ensured that you received the information you needed, intimidation tactics needed or not. Then you scoured.. literally everywhere else. It was a lot easier to do your probing at night. Everything was closed, so you didn't run into any security issues.

Still no Frisk.

You had checked Underground, too. Every spot of notice that you could imagine. You went through Toriel's house in the ruins, your own home in Snowdin, the remains of MTT Resort, Asgore's home, both laboratories, new and true..

Nothing.

You tried not to let your mind wander, but you couldn't help yourself. Sans the skeleton, arguably the strongest monster of the species. Scared to death. You hadn't experienced fear before like this. Back in the Underground, the constant resets made you invulnerable to worry. Invulnerable to pain. Why would you have to fear anything when the world would just reappear regardless of what you did? It made it easier to stay detached from a lot of things. Now that you had resurfaced with the rest of the species, you let yourself connect. Sure, it wasn't in a lot of ways, but they were big for you. Having a relationship would have been out of the question before. Way too much work. Especially when the work would just be undone anyways with a reset. It would only serve to cause you additional pain. You had enough pain to deal with. Chara's taking over in particular.

The only thing you were concerned about was Papyrus having a good time. Getting the human through his puzzles and being thoroughly japed. Fighting the human outside of Snowdin.. without incident. The date which you always overheard from your room and left you in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Just thinking about your brother sent a shockwave through your body.

 _Oh god.. Paps._

It took every ounce of your self-control to not categorically lose it on him in the station. You understood why he didn't come for you until he did, but that didn't make it any more right in your book. You could've been watching over her. If you were there, you could've stopped it. That thought trumped all when you eyed him in contempt and bit your tongue, so to speak.

The look that he gave you in response.. was terrible.

You stood out from your lookout point. The reflection of the sunrise bounced off the waves of the crashing waters. Wonder if the water will freeze up here with the weather or not. In Snowdin, the water never froze over. You hoped it would be the same as back at home. It was a beautiful sight. You focused your energy and took a step forward, reappearing outside of your home. You opened the door slowly as to not wake up Papyrus. It was wasted effort.

Papyrus was on the living room couch, very much awake. Wow, never seen him awake this early. Must have just come from canvasing the streets as wel-

He had his head buried in his hands. He was curled forward, back arched and was facing the floor. Did he fall asleep like that? Must have been out for a while. And then there was sniffling.

 _Look at what you've done._

As you started to approach him pensively, his eyes shot up to you.

"Hoo.. h-hey, Sans.. I-"

You stopped in front of him for a second, cutting off his words. Poor Papyrus. He didn't deserve what you had put him through tonight. He was just as worried about Frisk as you were and put in some effort searching before you even knew. Papyrus was already suffering. You just went and made it about yourself.

Your body even took you by surprise, diving into your brother. Papyrus quickly lifted his head up and wrapped his arms around your body, taken aback by your response. He patted your back in comfort.

"Sans.."

You swallowed hard. "m'sorry, paps. for tonight."

"It's.. it's okay, brother. I understa-"

"no." you cut him off simply. "there's nothing to understand. i was wrong. you did the right thing, paps."

You felt your face get hot with frustration and emotion. Something was leaking out of eye sockets. Huh. Guess that answers that question.

Papyrus only served to squeeze your body tighter against his own when he felt your tears hit his shoulders.

"T-thank you, brother." 

You lost track of how long the two of you held each other. He was right. He did the right thing. Just because you're upset you weren't there, doesn't mean it's right. If someone told you in the morning you would have left immediately. In doing so, it could've caused a whole other goose chase to start with yourself. It might have interrupted your searching, made it more difficult and dangerous. You wouldn't hear the end of it from Frisk.

 _.. if you found her at all._

"i looked everywhere bro. i cant find her.. i.. i don't know.. what to do.." you trailed off, leaning back from Papyrus and wiping your face with your sleeve a few times. "she's just.."

"Brother. WE WILL FIND HER, YOU KNOW THAT." You nodded half-heartedly. "SHE'S A TOUGH COOKIE. LOOK AT ALL THAT SHE'S DONE FOR US. HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS. SHE'S THE STRONGEST HUMAN OF THEM ALL. I BELIEVE IN HER."

You took a seat beside your brother. Believing in Papyrus's conviction was one thing, but.. it's been too long. Seeds of doubt began to take over you.

"me too, paps." You attempted to convince yourself. It's not that you didn't believe in her, it's the uncertainty of what kind of fight she was facing.

Should have taken better care of her. Definitely shouldn't have let her go the other night. Not without beckoning her in. Her giving you a peck on the cheek. You would've settled with a hug. An embrace. Anything. Anything would have been better then where you left it.

Papyrus was looking at you with concern. Damnit. You felt terribly hiding it from the family, but particularly with Paps. It took a lot of effort, especially when she slept over, but you two managed to keep him in the dark. It wasn't that you didn't want him to know. You wanted him to know more than anyone. You shared everything you could with your brother.

You sat up in the couch a bit straighter making up your mind.

"paps, i gotta tell you something. about the kid."

"HMM? WHAT'S THAT?" his voice fluctuated.

You brought your hand to the back of your skull, rubbing it nervously. "well, uh.. heh. i mean.. the kid and i.. well." Searching for the right words proved to be difficult. You felt your voice gravel. "the last year.." 

He opened his mouth and brought his hands to the side of his mouth in an almost comical fashion before you finished your confession. "OH MY GOD. SANS, YOU AND THE HUMAN? WOWEE! THIS IS NEW INFORMATION! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" His eyes widened with a sparkle.

You looked at him in confusion. No way. It seemed to register with him that he was, in fact, the worst actor in the world bar none. He narrowed his eyes, the sparkles disappearing.

"NYEHH.. AHH, WELL. BROTHER, YOU DON'T GIVE ME ENOUGH CREDIT."

Your eyes widened. "you.. know then?"

"WELL, A FEW MONTHS AGO I WAS SNEAKING DOWNSTAIRS FROM BED FOR SOME WATER. THE TWO OF YOU WERE CANOODLING ON THE COUCH. I DIDN'T END UP GETTING ANY WATER AFTER THAT."

"and?"

"AND I WISH YOU WOULDN'T KEEP LYING TO US." His words moved through you, taking a piece of your doubt with it. You couldn't believe you were worried about whether or not he'd approve. "I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU'RE KEEPING IT TO YOURSELVES IN REGARDS TO THE HUMANS, BUT.. TORIEL, ASGORE, UNDYNE, ALPHYS, METTATON.. THEY'D LOVE TO KNOW!"

You pushed aside the temptation to make a too f-risky joke. Now wasn't the time for joking. Not until she was back. "yeah, bro. soon. but not yet. i need you to keep this super important secret for me." he nodded distinctively, inspired by the new faith you'd put in him. The thought of the group's reaction was too entertaining. The only one he was truly concerned about telling was Tori. You wanted her approval more than anything. It sucks having to go behind her back like this.

"BESIDES, THE TWO OF YOU ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER." He continued on, undeterred. "YOU HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON. AND WHEN I SAW YOU TWO.. I MEAN, I CAN JUST TELL THESE THINGS, SANS." Papyrus looked up to the ceiling with a smile. "WHEN WE FIND HER, I'LL MAKE YOU A SPECIAL DINNER DATE." You swallowed tightly, starting to panic. What if she doesn't come back. "I TOLD HER THAT I'D HELP FIND SECOND BEST TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS, I GUESS SHE REALLY TOOK IT TO HEART."

He looked down from the ceiling and to you, pausing.

"SANS."

You made a weird sound you'd never made before and looked down to the ground quickly. Grinning painfully, you started to count the blue zig-zag patterns in the carpeting. Distracting yourself didn't work however. You felt the weight change on the couch and Papyrus's arm slide around you, pulling yourself into his side.

"SANS.. EVERYTHING'S GOING TO OKAY. WE'LL FIND HER. SHE'LL MAKE IT. SHE ALWAYS HAS, RIGHT?"

You hesitated. ".. yeah, paps."

It was only with Papyrus's warm comfort that you gave into exhaustion and fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

You were snapped out of your nightmare with a loud banging noise. You clutched at your chest, grabbing a handful of sweater fabric. It took a few seconds to regain your composure and come back to reality. That was one of the worst ones you'd ever had. In the dream, you found her. Not the way that you wanted to find her. Somehow, her broken form was still pleading for you. It was far too late, though.

You decided against sleeping until you found her.

You turned, looking to your brother who was wrapped around you. He was snoring softly into your shoulder, a strained look on his face. The sun was shining through the window and illuminating his features as well as your own.

"hey, paps, rise an-"

The loud bang that woke you from your slumber deafened the house yet again. This time, you could tell it was a knock at the door. Although from the sounds of it, you couldn't really classify it as a knock. More of a roundhouse kick approach. It appeared again, but this time with a crunch of wood and a foot protruding from a split through the center. Mystery solved.

"GUYS! COME ONNNN, WE DON'T HAVE ALL MORNING TO WAIT FOR YOU!" Undyne barked from outside angrily.

Alphys could be heard moaning about Undyne busting the door apart, but it couldn't be helped.

"hey. we're up." you yelled over to her.

"THEN LET'S GO, SANS."

You looked again at your brother who was now fully awake and staring at you with a look you couldn't place. Somewhere between resolve and optimism. You could always count on Paps to invigorate you. Well, anyone really.

You stood from the couch and shoved your hands in your pockets, striding over towards the now broken door. The whole gang was here. Undyne in the center, boots dirtied with scuffs and splinters. Alphys chewing her claws behind her. Asgore beaming behind him. But..

"hey, wheres tori?"

Everyone turned to Asgore, who in turn glanced towards the snow covered blades of grass. "Well, she said that someone needed to be home in case she returned on her own accord." he answered, and then hesitated. "Although, I think it is not best for her to be on the hunt. We have a lot of help with the human authorities. She.. erm.." lowering his voice ever so gently. "She shouldn't be in public right now."

You instinctively clenched your fists together in your pockets, the material sufficiently muffling the cracks from your bones. Toriel was having a hard time, yeah, but not being strong enough to come and help.. she must be feeling so guilty right now. Your bones chilled to the thought. Poor Tori.

You hope that you're the one to find this asshole.

It took no time at all to walk to the station, just a few blocks off of your house. Your grin widened when you saw the scene before you.

"Holy crap, are ALL these people here to help find Frisk?!" Undyne barked.

The group was massive. You scanned over the crowd, assessing the search party. A lot of kids assumedly from Frisk's school. Either school mates or teenage followers, whichever answer didn't matter as long as they were helping out. Tons of officers. Looks like the entire force was out. Good. Then the rest.. it was a mixed bag. You didn't understand fully how much she reached people until now. Nearly half the town was out here ready to spend their entire day looking for her.

You shifted awkwardly and shot your head down to face the mudded snow. She's so amazing. You didn't deserve someone as special as her. She could do anything she put her mind to. She works so hard.. and only saw such little result. The shaking started, unable to control yourself. If only she could see how she brought these people together.. but now she couldn't. Because of you. You weren't there for her. The thought of her somewhere right now pleading for you.. it began to possess your mind.

You felt a hand slam onto your shoulder.

"SANS. ISN'T THIS GREAT? WE'LL FIND HER FOR SURE! LOOK AT ALL THESE PEOPLE!" Papyrus declared, extending his arm and pointing to the mass. You willed yourself to silence the quaking in your body, straightened out and looked up. Your eyes met your brother's and the thoughts mercifully began to leave. It took everything to get the words out, unable to joke anymore.

"..y-yeah pap."

You could make out the captain, Tristian, approach a podium and began directing the search party. Everyone had a squadron to obtain to with specific areas of the city to search high and low. To scan the fields outside of the city. Go through buildings and businesses, who were apparently on notice and had to adhere to searchers or face disciplinary action. Must have been disappointing for him seeing this turnout for Frisk and thinking about the reaction when his own son disappeared. Half of his workers didn't even want to find the little shit. At least he understood now it was for good reason, but of course he looked torn up and an absolute wreck. When his speech finished, the crowd of people gave a few yells of enthusiasm and determination before splitting apart into sections. The place cleared out within a few minutes.

You reappeared beside Tristian before he got to his car.

"hey pal." you greeted darkly. He stopped walking and stood as stiff as a board, unable to face you. "so, about the last couple days. heard you weren't really tellin' us the truth. not the important stuff, anyways. so.." your eyes thinned as the manic grin on your face painfully twisted. "mind explaining yourself? cause the way i see it.. this is all your fucking fault."

You couldn't help yourself. It wasn't true. You just needed to see him take responsibility for his actions.

"You know, I have a terrible feeling. A feeling that you're right." your head tilted a bit, surprised to hear his acceptance so quick. Tristian turned to face you, eyes a bit puffed out. "But honestly.. there wasn't anything I could do."

"you're the fucking head of the operation, buddy. what are you ev-"

"No, I'm not." His eyes glazed over in disappointment. "There's a lot of other factors at play here, Sans." your head jerked a bit. It was one of the first instances where you heard a human call you by your name. He inhaled and continued on, "I had to follow protocol. We interviewed a neighbour at the crime scene. She gave a statement indicating that a short skeletal monster had stood on the sidewalk, breaking what looked to be a cellphone. My son's cellphone."

You stood in silence. Damnit. So that was the reason why they wanted to hold and question you. Because you couldn't keep your damn emotions in check. Because you wanted to take out all of the murderous aggression aimed at Andrew out on the only piece of him you found. Funny.

"When I talked to Frisk.. I knew. I knew she was telling the truth. What.. what Andrew did.. tried to do.." he trailed off, bringing a hand to his face in shame. "Unforgivable." In a state of resolve, he brought his hand down to his side, straightening his form. "What I want you to know is that I was arguing your release since the beginning. The council and mayor were having none of it. You would think it'd mean a bit more coming from the father of the missing child, but.. nope. It's black and white with these people, Sans. You understand that. Hell, you probably understand it better than I do."

"So if you do end up finding them, I want you to bring my son back to me. Bring him back to me so that I can deal with him. I promise you, I won't disappoint you twice. I couldn't look at her the same again."

You hid your shock with his confession. It all made sense. Even when talking to Frisk in the early hours of the morning after a particularly rough debate with the man, she only had nice things to say about him. Always thought it was just her nature, but now you can see it for yourself. This is a good man in the wrong position. Not to say he can't do his job. Just.. in the wrong spot.

Your grin tightened. "s'all right, bud. just doin' your job. don't be so hard on yourself." His eyes expanded as if his mind was responding likewise. "and uh.. i'll do my best. to bring him back." you held back the 'in one piece' bit that was internally being said to the man.

"Thank you. Now, I've left your group.. Frisk's family.. to search in the way that you feel fit. Every inch of this city has been covered by the search party. I was hoping you could provide some additional thoroughness."

"plan on it."

"All right. Sans, let's find them, all right?" he shot out his arm, opening his palm towards you. You couldn't help but exhale a soft chuckle, meeting his hand. You shook hands with the man firmly. The man who, in some degree, had a hand in this whole thing. The man who kept you from protecting her. But you couldn't help think that this is exactly what Frisk would want you to do. In turn, it's what you want to do as well.

You turn to meet your friends, leaving the man. You brought your hands back into your pocket, striding past your group and leading the way. It was time to end all this. We had to find her.

 _Nothing._

You found yourself sitting at Frisk's desk in her room. The search was a dud. Not only did they find no trace of either kid, but not even a piece of clothing.. any evidence of them at all. You didn't know what time it was. You had stayed out and searched the outskirts of town, yelling her name. Over and over again. Your voice ended up strained and distorted by the end of the night. More due to frustration than anything. The group was broken-hearted, to say the least. When the group began to splinter off one by one, a wave of guilt and sadness swept everyone. You thought Papyrus was going to break you apart when he turned in, but you were determined to see someone before you headed home for the night.

Unfortunately, Toriel could not be swayed.

She remained in her room, in a hysterical state. Asgore wasn't lying. She was in no right mind to be a part of the search right now. You had tried the knock knock jokes with her bedroom door even, to no avail. Defeated, you managed to scale up the stairs and make it to her room. Frisk's room. You found her homework on the desk which you were giving a look over for any help. None whatsoever. The blankets and sheets had been washed and returned without a sign of the struggle that occurred on them. The blood results had been sped up due to the urgency of the situation, but they still had yet to be deciphered. Tori would have been the first to know about it, she would have said something if there was an update.

Fatigue and stress took over you. You could feel yourself slowly losing your head throughout the day with each failing hour. A magic aura illuminated around your body and lit up the room around you. You clenched your fists and felt your face twist into a manic grin.

 _Where is she._

 _ **Where the fuck is she!**_

Everything went dark. When you came back to your senses, the room revealed itself to you in a disturbed manner. Papers and books were thrown across the room. Dresser drawers were pulled out and contents tossed wherever they happened to fall. You ran to the window, slamming it to the left side to open it and took a few gasps of air in a panic. The cold air hit your face and you felt yourself securing back to reality. It had been a while since you lost control, and your body was still shaking violently. You leaned back into the room in a swift motion, but paused when your eyes met something.

The first clue you had found.

The only one you needed.

The shaking stopped, along with space and time itself. You unconsciously brought your hand out and reached into the groove of the window track, tucked in the very corner from having the window closed on it. You grabbed a small leaf and thorn. A thorn that was half covered in blood.

"no. no…no.. _no no no_.." you heard fall from your mouth. The next thing you felt was a scream rip from your mouth, and then your body jerking violently into a shortcut in an instant. The thorn and the leaf hit the ground in that order, falling from the skeleton's hand in abandon.


	17. Chapter 17

**(Two days ago)**

The world around you suddenly began to form, starting in vague shapes and colours but defining themselves within a minute. You couldn't make out very much in the blanketing darkness, only that you were in a cavern or hole of some sort. Craning your neck upwards, you could see a faint glow provided by the.. was it the setting sun or the rising sun? How on earth could you tell.

You felt like you were going to be sick. Your head was swimming. No, drowning. Your head was drowning in a daze, and although your vision had returned to you, you still felt dizzy somehow.

 _What the hell is going on?_

Focus, Frisk. Okay. The last thing you remember..

 _Oh._

As the memories of the last experience you had flooded back to you in a wave, you suddenly realized that you couldn't move. You were bound to something. You tried feebly to move your arms towards your head. Your eyes widened in pain as a scream ripped out of you, feeling your skin on your arms split open in spots. You tilted your head down weakly to see..

 **Vines.**

A cluster of vines had entangled themselves around your body, constricting you and binding you to the wall. Panic began to set in with this information, your breathing becoming more frantic. If you moved, you would get split open again by whatever those.. oh, it had to be thorns. The thorns that spread themselves evenly throughout the vines.

You raised your head and now began to recognize a familiar scene. It was all coming back to you. This is where it started. Where you first fell down Mount Ebott. The sunrise or sunset helped illuminate the center of the pit, where a single patch of grass and flowers lay. It must either be early in the morning or getting late. You hoped it was getting to be early, so that the rising sun would shine light on the situation.

You squinted your eyes and concentrated on making out some figures on the opposite wall, but it was impossible to know for sure. Just looked like another cluster of vines. In fact, the entire cave walls surrounding you appeared to be blanketed in them.

Fatigue began to claim you once more. You could feel your head lower once more for a bit of time, how much that passed you aren't sure of. It was only a voice that brought you back to reality.

"H.. hey.."

 _That sounds like.._

"A-A-Andrew?" you weakly responded.

"Fr.. frisk.." Oh man. He sounded in worse shape than you did. His tone was weak and irratic. Like he was on edge.. waiting for something.

You couldn't help but start to cry. Maybe it was because the depth of the situation you found yourself in was starting to seep into you. The futility. It was maddening. You didn't think it was that, though.. it was Andrew. His voice sounded so pained and harsh. Funny, a day ago you wanted nothing more than to find him and have him punished for his actions. Now, all you wanted to do was to get to him and give him a hug. To let him know that everything was all right. After everything that he did.

 _What is wrong with me?_

"Andrew.. w-what's go-going o..n.."

You heard a crack in his voice, as if he attempted to speak but the words refused to leave. He regained himself. "Frisk.. I'm sorry.. I don't k-know what's happening.. I woke up a d-day ago.. F..Frisk.. I'm so- sorry.. so sorry.. I'm sorry.." he trailed off and started muttering more of the same to himself. Your heart sank.

"An..drew.."

"I d-don't remember a-anything after the p-park.. but being here.. it.. I thought it w-was my p-punishment.."

"No..thing.. h-happ..ened.."

"No, b-but I would h-have." He spat out in a self-loathing brood. "I t-thought.. I had t-to take s-something from y-you.. because you.. well.. no, you didn't, I just.. I-I just.."

"I for..give y-you.." your weak response graciously fell from your lips. You made out Andrew's head jerking up in response, probably in shock. Your head tilted forward a bit in exhaustion, freeing a bit of your hair as it draped across the side of your cheek. "it's okay.. An..drew.. we n-need.. to get o-out.. of here.." Why wouldn't the ground stay where it was? This unstable feeling was really going to make you puke.

His throat cleared and you could hear a sniffling noise from his direction. Poor guy. He's been down here all this time. All the wasted efforts trying to find him, your family worrying about you being safe, it was never an issue at all. You wanted to bring your hand to your head in realization, but you couldn't remind yourself in time. The thorns once again sliced through your arm before stopping yourself. You let out a seething noise in between your teeth, exhaling sharply and regaining composure.

 _Oh no._

 _ **Sans.**_

They still have him in the holding area waiting to find Andrew. Well, that's not going to happen, now is it? They couldn't just leave him in there _forever_ , could they? _They can't do that, can they? Tristian had more sense than that, right?_

"Andrew.. can y-you move..?"

"N-no.. I'm s-sorry.. st-stuck to the w-wall.. stupid pl-plant..!" he shouted in annoyance.

You took in a deep breath and looked up to the sky.

"H..hoo.. HELP! SOMEONE!"

Even yelling right now took the wind right out of you. Andrew started to yell as well, but it was between stifled cries. You regained yourself and tried again.

"HELP.. S-SANS.. ANYONE!"

With your head tilted to the sky, you didn't see the small flower unearth from the center of the flower patch.

" **Howdy!"**


	18. Chapter 18

Your body began to quake with a single word. How strange.

"Flow..ey..?"

"Hey there, Frisk! It's been a while!" he responded. Focusing hard, you could make out his form in the center of the area in a patch of similar flowers. He was beaming up at you proudly, without a care in the world. His golden petals standing out beyond the rest in the flowerbed.

Your expression fell from shock to solemn. So many years had passed between the last time you had seen Asriel in this form. You meekly hoped that he would be wrong. That somehow, he would return in his old body. But that time had clearly passed. His tightened grin showed an aging in his face. Hardened from all of the isolated time on his own. A wave of guilt slammed into you. Years and years of darkness. Even if he had any remains of his soul, it would be gone by now. You decided to tread carefully. 

"Hello.. Flowey.." you heavily pant through your response. You try to take a deep breath in, but are cut off by a sharp pain in your side, hissing down towards the ground. Flowey's smile widens as you struggle to regain your composure.

"Hmm.. you look like you're having a hard time there, Frisk!" he says gleefully as his eyes begin to wander up and down your restricted form. "Don't worry, I'll share some mercy with you in time." a chuckle escapes his tightened grin. You can't help but tremor in fear. He's had years.. over two thousand days of the sun rising and setting to plot. The thought of this drove you crazy. It was enough to keep your eyes open through the pain. Your consciousness begins to falter.

"Frisk, stay awake!" Andrew yells from across the chasm.

The black edges around your vision disappear with his words, locking eyes with him. You can't leave him alone with Flowey. You bite down on your lip.

"Oh, good!" Flowey beams over to you in pride. "I don't think that I could wait any longer. Now Frisk, I'm going to need you awake and alert for this, okay? You have to stay awake!" 

You get a churning feeling in your stomach. Why does Flowey care if you stay awake? There are too many questions. 

"Besides, I've been waiting a while to finally get to see my sister again." Flowey begins to chuckle madly as your breath hitches. "Chara, are you there? I want to play again!" he mutters an octave lower as his face contorts.

"Frisk, w-what the hell is going on?!" Andrew yells from the opposite end of the cave.

Your heart is pounding wildly in your chest. So that's it. He's trying to force Chara into control of your body. How much did he know about your activity above ground? If he's been watching you, then he might know about the incident a year ago in which Chara nearly overpowered you. You decide to bluff him.

"I d-don't.. know, Drew.. Chara's d-dead."

Flowey's face twisted inwards maniacally. You couldn't make out Andrew's expression, but it was somewhere between confusion and fear. As you watched him, the vines around his body began to crawl downwards off of his body. With a gasp inwards, Andrew fell to the ground and somehow landed on his feet.

You've never felt more determined in your life.

"A..ANDREW.. RUN.." 

His eyes met yours with that of a deer in headlights. The flower merely cackled and looked over in his direction. "Aww, but Andrew, then you'd miss out on the only reason why I brought your despicable form down here to keep me company! Aren't you just DYING to find out?!" 

After regaining his composure, he slowly made it up to his feet. With his eyes lowered to the ground, he reached into his back pocket, pulling out what looked like a pocket knife. With a flick of his wrist, the blade extended out of its base and he held it tightly. He looked up towards you with a better view and hissed. Your body must be in worse shape than you think.

"Don't worry.. Frisk.. I'm going to get you out of here.. o-okay? Let me take care of this stupid sunflower. Everything's g-going to be all right. I'm going t-to make it up to you." he grinned up at you. You gave him a pleading look, but before you could interject, he began to run towards Flowey. The flower disappeared under the ground before Andrew reached his form, and before popping back up sent a vine towards his leg, sweeping him easily. As he fell to the ground, you took in another breath of air painfully.

"Andrew.. he's t-toying w-with you… please.. r-run.."

"Not happening!" he shouted back to you as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

Flowey bent a bit to the side, looking at Andrew curiously. "Wow, Andrew! You've got more determination than I thought!" You heard some movement off in the distance that got your attention. "When Frisk is in trouble, a human who you hate, you fight with your all." Andrew begins to hear the commotion and looks away from the flower towards the ground off in the corner. A cluster of vines are beginning to disperse. "But when it's your own family, you couldn't be bothered to save them?" his face twisted together into an expression you couldn't be bothered to identify. The vines had revealed what looked like a body. An older woman who looked like she had been down here for a long time.

 _No._

You inhaled painfully. "A-andre..w.." His eyes were wide, looking towards the crumpled mass in the corner. His hands opened, releasing the blade which hit the ground with a clunk.

"MOM!"

He sprinted past the flower, who had been laughing for a while now. "MOOOOM!" his eyes were uncontrollably watering, running at full speed. As he got closer and closer, his screaming became more panicked as the truth began to set in. Neither one of you could see the movement on the ground before it was too late.

Without warning, a vine shot up from the ground towards his running body and pierced his chest clean through his body.

"ANDREW!"

His movement ceased almost instantly. You could see him open his mouth weakly, blood trickling down his chin and onto the cavern floor. His arm outstretched slowly towards his mothers body, trying feebly to reach her before his body gave out and fell limp against the vine.

"No.. n-no.." you heard the words falling out of you, but couldn't really feel them. You began to wail, trying with the rest of your energy to thrash against the vines. You had to reach him. You had to tell him that everything was going to be okay. This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

Flowey's laughter broke when he saw you moving about against his constricts. He slid under the ground and popped back up just underneath you. "Hey, Frisk, wasn't that fun! Did you see that pathetic attempt to get her?! He was all, "MOMMY, MOMMY, NO!" and then lights out! What a failure!"

Your anger bubbled inside of you, but before you could try to get to him, he appeared suddenly in front of your face. His eyes were wide and he had a crooked grin.

"Now, I'm going to need you to stop hurting yourself so much, it's going to make torturing you a lot shorter. I've been waiting to bring Chara back for a while, so let's make it fun, all right?"

Your body froze as you felt a pulse run through your entire body.

"All right!" 


End file.
